


Sirius the Service Dog

by EnterUserNameHere



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Anxious Harry, Infrequent Updates, Mental Health Issues, Mentions of neglect, REALLY slow, Slow Build, Social Anxiety, Verbal Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-18
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2018-04-09 22:20:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 33
Words: 52,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4366367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnterUserNameHere/pseuds/EnterUserNameHere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sirius broke out of Azkaban a month before Harry's eleventh birthday. After finding Harry at the Dursely's he realized that Harry has social anxiety, so he became Harry's service dog. Keeping what he really is is harder than he thought it would be as Sirius accompanies Harry to Hogwarts. Especially when it becomes clear that Harry has a knack for getting into trouble.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Escape

Sirius stared blankly at the wall of his cell. He sometimes forgot why he was in Azkaban in the first place. Unfortunately, those moments of forgetfulness never lasted long. Eventually he remembered. Two of his best friends were dead, another had betrayed them, and the last no doubt hated Sirius and thought he deserved to be in here.

Sirius blinked back tears. How could Peter have done this? They had loved him, he'd been like a brother to them, and yet- he was the reason Lily and James were dead. It was because of him that Harry was an orphan and Merlin knew where.

A sudden clang brought him out of his thoughts. A tray of food and a copy of the Daily Prophet were shoved into his cell. He shivered at the feeling of cold and hopelessness that signaled a dementor's presence.

He waited until it passed before going near the food. He didn't know how often they fed him, just that it wasn't enough.

He could only manage a couple bites before he felt sick. He glanced at the newspaper. He didn't really care what was going on in the outside world, it wouldn't really make a difference to him. He frowned at the date. In just over a month Harry would turn eleven. His rage at Peter came back. If it hadn't been for that damn rat he would be planning his godson's eleventh birthday party. 

Sirius tore the paper to shreds. He transformed into Padfoot and howled in pain and anger at what he'd lost.

\------------------line break---------------

Sirius woke the next morning still in Padfoot's form. He blinked. He felt much better than he had in years. A dementor went straight past his cell, which was odd. They never went straight by, they always stopped to torment him.

Tentatively, he moved closer to the door of his cell. He pushed it open with his nose. The doors in Azkaban weren't locked since the prisoners didn't want to get closer to the guards. The second a door opened dementors swarmed it and whoever was on the other side of it.

When Sirius opened his door two dementors shot towards it. However, they didn't touch him. They went into the cell and started looking for him. Sirius got out and ran for the edge of the island as fast as he could in case they figured out he was the dog.

He leapt into the ocean without a second thought and started swimming for shore.

He shook himself off when he got there and looked for a place to rest. He changed into a man briefly to cast a spell to find Harry. He snarled when he saw that Harry was with Lily's sister. He changed back into Padfoot and, after a short nap, started running again.

'Hold on, pup I'm coming.'


	2. Reunion

When Sirius reached Number Four Privet Drive Harry was working in the garden. Sirius stayed in dog form and tried to think of how best to approach him. He couldn't take Harry away to live with him, he was still a fugitive, but he wanted to be in Harry's life.

Sirius was pulled from his thoughts when a woman walked past the house and called out, "Harry. Hello dear, lovely weather isn't it?"

Harry froze, eyes widening in fear. He didn't say anything.

"Hello? You know you really should answer when someone speaks to you, young man. It's incredibly rude not to." The woman continued.

Sirius could see Harry's hand start to shake. Of course, that was when Sirius realized how he could be part of Harry's life. He remembered a muggle born back at school talk about service dogs. Maybe he could do that for Harry.

When the woman opened her mouth to speak again Sirius ran towards them, barking like mad. Harry jumped at the sound. The woman screamed and ran off. Sirius trotted to Harry's side and licked his arm. Harry giggled and scratched his ears.

"Where'd you come from?" He smiled.

Sirius barked and nudged Harry's chest.

"Boy!" Vernon Dursley came out of the house with a scowl. Harry gripped Sirius's fur tightly. "What're you doing with a dog, boy?"

"He-he just came running up to me, Uncle Vernon." Harry answered.

"Get rid of it."

Sirius snarled at him as he walked back into the house then turned and licked Harry's cheek.

Harry smiled. "Sorry, dog. Uncle Vernon will probably call animal control or something if you don't leave." Sirius whined. "You seem like a good dog. I wish I could keep you, I've always wanted a dog."

Sirius stayed by Harry's side until the boy hugged him and went inside.

\-----------------------line break---------------------

The next day when Vernon opened the door to leave for work Sirius ran into the house. He found Harry in the kitchen washing dishes. Harry smiled when he saw him. The smile dropped away when he heard Vernon yelling.

"Please go." Harry hissed. "I don't want you to get hurt."

Sirius jumped up to lick his face.

Vernon and Petunia burst into the room. Vernon tried to grab Sirius. He snapped at his hand and Petunia screamed.

"Boy! Get that mangy best out of my house right now!" Vernon's face was bright red.

"Y-yes Uncle." Harry squeaked. He grabbed the scruff of Sirius's neck and gently pulled him out of the house. "I'm sorry." He whispered.

When Harry went out to mow the lawn, Sirius happily returned to his side. He left when his godson was finished.

\--------------------------line break------------------------

That night Sirius snuck into the house and cast a compulsion charm on Harry's aunt and uncle. It wasn't totally legal but hey, he was already a fugitive.

The next morning Vernon took Sirius to get his licence and make him an official service dog. It took a lot longer than Sirius had hoped. In fact he was left with people he guessed were trainers for a couple days. He managed to use magic to speed things up a bit.

Finally, Petunia brought Harry to pick him up.

"I'm sorry, we still don't have a name for this guy." One of the trainers said.

Petunia pushed Harry forward. The boy wrapped his arms around Sirius and buried his face in his fur.

"Um," the trainer frowned. "We can't finish the paperwork without a name." She looked at Petunia expectantly.

Harry took a shaky breath. "Shadow." He whispered.

"I'm sorry, Shadow?" She repeated. Harry nodded tightening his hold on Sirius as he did. "Okay. I'll finish everything up and you can take him home."

"Thank you." Petunia said flatly.

An hour later they were back in the car. Sirius was proudly wearing a collar and service dog jacket. Harry wouldn't let go of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realize this isn't actually how you get a service dog. For the purposes of this story, they can do it this way.


	3. Dudley's Birthday

Sirius was furious with the way these Muggles treated his godson. They forced him to clean their house, work in the garden, and cook most of their meals. In return he got little food, a cupboard to sleep in, and hand-me-down clothes. He was frequently belittled and yelled at. Once Vernon hit him! Sirius bit his hand for that, granted he was kicked in the ribs afterward but Vernon hadn't tried anything physical with Harry since.

The cupboard Harry slept in was small but Harry insisted on keeping Sirius with him through the night. They both slept on the bed with Harry clinging to Sirius like a koala. Sirius was rather pleased with this since Harry had only had a thin, ratty blanket to keep him warm before Sirius came along. Now he could at least keep the boy from shivering through the night.

Dudley's birthday started off like any other, Petunia banged on the cupboard door and yelled at Harry to wake up. Harry untangled himself from Sirius and shuffled out to make the Dursleys' breakfast with Sirius trotting faithfully behind him. There were presents stacked high on the table, all for Dudley.

The fat boy ran into the room and deliberately stepped on Sirius's tail before he started counting his presents.

"Happy birthday sweetums!" Petunia said kissing his cheek.

Dudley grunted in reply. "Thirty six! That's two less than last year." He scowled.

Harry "accidentally" dropped a bit of bacon on the floor. Sirius snapped it up while Petunia was pointing out the present Dudley had missed.

"That's still less than last year." Dudley whined.

Sirius felt a flash of annoyance. He highly doubted that Harry's birthday was acknowledged at all in this house, but his spoiled brat of a cousin was complaining that he got 37 presents instead of the 38 he got last year. Sirius ignored them as Petunia promised to get Dudley another two presents. 

He focused on watching Harry instead. The small boy was serving the Dursleys their breakfast and got a couple bites of eggs and bacon for himself. He smiled down at Sirius, usually he got a piece of toast for breakfast but apparently Vernon and Petunia were feeling generous today. Harry ate quickly and fed Sirius while Dudley tore open presents Sirius was sure would be broken by the end of the week. Sirius wasn't really paying attention while Petunia went to get the phone. He was spaced out when she came back too, Harry was scratching behind his ears and it felt fantastic. He became aware again when Dudley's friend Piers walked into the room with his mother.

Half an hour later Harry and Sirius were in the back of Vernon's car with Piers and Dudley. Sirius was laying on the boys' feet due to the small space in the car. Piers kept jabbing him with his toes. He couldn't do anything without getting Harry into trouble though. Before they left Vernon had pulled Harry aside and warned him that if anything strange happened he would be punished and if Sirius acted up or bit anyone they would take him to be put down. Still, he could only take so much. Sirius growled in warning while Vernon ranted about motorcycles.

"Shadow hush, please." Harry whispered, reaching down to pet him. Reluctantly, he quieted. Piers smirked.

When they finally reached the zoo, Sirius was the first one out of the car. Harry dug his fingers into his fur when he saw how many people were there. It was a sunny Saturday so the place was crowded. Still, Sirius was determined to make sure Harry had a decent time. A woman at the entrance to was selling ice cream. Dudley and Piers got large chocolate ice creams and Harry got a cheap lemon pop. He dropped a small section for Sirius, it was actually pretty good.

Harry and Sirius walked a little way apart from the Dursleys as they looked at the animals. Harry kept a hand in Sirius's fur the whole time and didn't meet anyone's eyes, he did seem to be enjoying the animals though. They ate in the zoo restaurant, Sirius was allowed in since he was wearing his service dog jacket, and Harry was given Dudley's knickerbocker glory to finish because his "didn't have enough ice cream." As always Harry dropped a little for Sirius.

After lunch they went to the reptile house. Harry was standing in front of the largest snake in the place, Dudley had left it alone when it wouldn't move, when he started hissing quietly to the snake. Sirius looked up in surprise. Harry was a Parselmouth? That was... new. Sirius noticed Piers turning to look at them. He put a paw on Harry's leg and whined softly to get his attention. Harry looked down at him. "Is something wrong, Shadow?"

"DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE!" Piers shouted.

"Out of the way, you." Dudley punched Harry in the ribs. Harry fell hard on the floor next to Sirius, who started looking him over for injuries.

Harry smiled slightly. "I'm okay." The boy glared up at Dudley and Piers leaning up close to the glass. Suddenly the two boys leaped back howling in horror. The glass in front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished. The snake itself slithered out and slid quickly past Harry. Sirius could hear it hissing quietly as it went.

For a little while afterwards Sirius hoped that Harry wouldn't be blamed. Unfortunately, on the drive back Piers said, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you Harry?"

Harry just held onto Sirius a little tighter.

\--------------------line break-------------------

Boy and dog were lying on the bed in Harry's cupboard together much later. It was dark and Sirius knew Harry was waiting until the Dursleys were asleep so he could sneak out and get them both some food. Part of Harry's punishment was that he couldn't have any meals. Sirius could still eat, but his meals had been reduced. Not completely taken away- Petunia was worried that if they didn't feed him he'd try to eat the furniture or something.

"What do you think boy? Are they asleep yet?" Harry whispered.

Sirius went to the door and sniffed trying to tell. He cheated a little and sent some of his magic out. He went back and nudged Harry gently to let him know that the coast was clear. Harry made a small sandwich and fed Sirius some of the meat. After they returned to the cupboard, Harry hugged Sirius tight.

"I love you Shadow. You're my only friend."


	4. Hagrid?

A couple weeks before Harry's eleventh birthday the letters started coming. Harry came close to opening the first one before it was snatched away by Dudley, he didn't get a chance after that. Vernon went partially insane during that time. He boarded up all the doors and windows, yelled at the post office and the dairy (a few letters had shown up inside their eggs), and was ridiculously jumpy. On the bright side Harry and Sirius were moved to Dudley's second bedroom upstairs. It was much nicer than the cupboard, but Sirius could tell Harry was still miserable. He once said that he'd rather be back in his cupboard with that blasted letter than up here without it. Not that Sirius could blame him.

Vernon had lightened up on Harry's chores, meaning that he had more free time. Sirius pulled Dudley's untouched books out and tried to encourage Harry to read when he had nothing else to do. Sometimes he did, but most of the time he just cuddled with Sirius and tried to guess who would be sending those letters.

Sunday morning Vernon was looking tired but happy as he sat down to breakfast. "No post on Sundays." he announced brightly. "No damn letters today-"

Of course that was when a flood on letters came pouring out of the fireplace. Vernon had to forcibly remove Harry from the room while Petunia did the same to Sirius, dragging him out by his collar, Dudley ran out on his own. Sirius was rather pleased with himself. He'd managed to grab a few letters in his jaws.

Vernon ordered the family to pack a bag. He spotted Sirius's mouthful of letters and let out a strangled sort of scream. He grabbed the letters and tried to yank the away from Sirius. Sirius held on and started growling at him in response. Eventually, the letters tore. Harry looked about as disappointed as Sirius felt.

"Go pack. Now! Five minutes." Vernon shoved Harry towards the stairs.

As Harry was throwing clothes into a bag he talked. "I'm really proud of you for trying to get some of those letters for me, Shadow. Don't be too upset it didn't work out, it's not your fault they tore. I'm just glad Uncle Vernon didn't kick you or anything." Harry grabbed the service dog jacket. "Come here, boy. No idea where Uncle Vernon plans to take us, but you should always wear this in public right?" Harry only really talked when he was alone with Sirius. Then it almost seemed like he was trying to make up for what he couldn't say around people.

Naturally, Dudley held them up. The whole car ride was silent except for Dudley's sniffling and Vernon's half insane muttering. Vernon kept making random sharp turns and doubled back several times. "Shake 'em off." Sirius heard him mutter.

Harry held Sirius tighter. "Shadow, he's really scaring me this time. Think we could jump out and run?" he whispered in Sirius's ear. The dog licked his cheek wishing he could hold his godson and properly comfort him.

\------------------------line break------------------

They stayed at a cheap hotel for the night. The owner of the place had told them she had a bunch of letters for Mr. H. Potter. Harry had frozen in place with a hand tangled in Sirius's fur, his voice stuck in his throat. Vernon had flashed a small smirk at Harry- he knew the boy would be unable to speak up- before going to take care of the letters.

\------------------------line break-------------------

Eventually, they ended up in a small hut in the middle of the ocean. Vernon had stopped and checked out several places- a field, the top of a parking garage, places like that- before deciding that the hut was the best place. Dudley and Petunia seemed resigned to the fact that Vernon had gone totally bonkers at this point.

When Dudley pointed out that it was Monday and whined about the TV he was missing Harry stiffened slightly. He buried his nose in Sirius's fur and whispered, "Tomorrow's my birthday." Sirius licked his cheek.

"This place is perfect." Vernon grinned as he got them all into the rowboat he had rented. Sirius sniffed at the long package he'd brought back. "Oh, no." Vernon actually laughed, it sounded half hysterical, and pushed Sirius away from the package. "That's not for dogs." He looked at Petunia, still grinning. "Storm forecast tonight."

It was freezing in the boat. Sirius pressed close to Harry, trying to keep him as warm as possible. The boy smiled at him, but he was still shivering. The hut they'd be staying in wasn't much better. Sure, there was some protection from the wind and no icy sea spray running over them, but there were gaps in the walls that allowed the wind to come through, the place smelled strongly of seaweed, and the fireplace was damp and empty. There were only two rooms.

Vernon had only brought a bag of chips for each human, four bananas, and a small stick of beef jerky for Sirius. Harry sneaked him part of his banana. Vernon tried to start a fire but empty chip bags aren't very good kindling.

"Could do with some of those letters now, eh?" he said cheerfully.

Vernon clearly didn't think anyone would be able to get out here to give Harry his letter. Sirius wanted to laugh in his face. A wizard could easily apparate out here. No muggle could escape a wizard chasing them without another wizard's help. Especially not this easily.

The promised storm hit them that night. Petunia had found some moldy blankets in the other room and made a bed for Dudley on the sofa. Harry got the thinnest blanket and had to sleep on the floor. Vernon and Petunia, of course, got the only bed in this place. Sirius curled up against Harry and did his best to make him comfortable. The boy still had trouble sleeping.

Harry took to staring at Dudley's wristwatch, his arm around Sirius. He whispered, "Ten minutes, Shadow. Ten minutes and I'll be eleven. Think the Dursleys will remember at all? Last year they gave me a coat hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks. Still, at least they remembered."

Sirius was a little heartbroken at that. Harry was so deprived of love he was just happy when someone remembered his birthday. Sirius licked his face and cuddled closer. This wasn't how Harry was supposed to have his childhood. He was supposed to be loved by his parents and surrounded with friends. James and he were supposed to be teaching him how to properly prank someone while Lily made sure he was fully prepared for Hogwarts. It shouldn't be like this.

"Do you think the roof's gonna fall in?" Harry wondered. "Hey, maybe when we get back to the house it'll be so full of those letters that I can steal one somehow. What'd you think, Shadow?" Sirius licked him again. "One minute left." Harry breathed.

BOOM.

As midnight hit the whole shack shivered and Harry sat bolt upright, staring at the door. Someone was outside, knocking to come in. Sirius stepped in front of Harry protectively and started growling at the door and whoever wanted to come in.

Dudley jerked awake when the mystery person knocked again. Vernon skidded into the room with a rifle in his hands. Well, that explains what was in the package.

"Who's there?" he shouted. "I warn you- I'm armed!"

Sirius rolled his eyes. Like that would scare a wizard, most of them wouldn't even know what the thing was!

The door was smashed clean off its hinges and landed on the floor with a deafening crash. A giant of a man stood in the doorway. Sirius blinked in surprise and stopped growling, he recognized this guy. Long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard that covered most of his face. Hagrid! Sirius was really glad that he and the others had kept their Animagus forms secret.

Hagrid stepped inside and pushed the door back into its frame. He turned back to them. "Couldn't make a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey...."

Sirius wanted to laugh. Same old Hagrid. 

Dudley was frozen on the couch with fear until Hagrid came over and told him to move. At which point he ran and hid behind his mother.

"An' here's Harry! Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby."

Harry was shaking. He was paler than normal and had tears in his eyes. Sirius made a show of sniffing Hagrid.

"Who's this then?" Hagrid looked down at Sirius. "Nice dog. Is he yours?" Hagrid asked Harry. Sirius put a paw on Hagrid's knee and lifted his chin to show off his tags. Hagrid checked out the one with his name. "Shadow, eh? Not a bad name. Well trained dog you got here Harry."

Sirius went back to Harry's side and licked his cheek to let him know that Hagrid was trustworthy. Harry wrapped his arms around Sirius and buried his face in his fur. Hagrid frowned slightly.

Vernon made a funny rasping noise. "I demand you leave at once, sir! You are breaking and entering!"

"Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune." Hagrid pulled the rifle out of Vernon's hands, bent it into a knot, and threw it into a corner of the room. Vernon made an odd squeaking noise.

"Anyway-" Hagrid turned back to Harry, lowered his voice a bit, and tried to sound as kind as possible so he didn't scare Harry anymore. "A very happy birthday to yeh, Harry. I've got summat fer yeh- I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right."

Harry squeezed Sirius tighter and peaked out from his fur. Hagrid pulled out a slightly squashed box and held it out to him. "Yeh won' wanna let yer dog have any. Could make 'im sick."

Harry loosened his hold on Sirius and very slowly reached out to take the box. His hand was still shaking pretty badly but Sirius was proud of him for doing this much, even if he couldn't speak yet. Hagrid set the box in his hand and motioned that he should open it. Inside was a large sticky chocolate cake with 'Happy Birthday Harry' written in green icing. Harry tried to say thank you, but ended up snapping his mouth shut and pressing his face to his dog again. Sirius heard him sob once, quietly. He nuzzled the boy's hair, proud. Harry had been very brave, taking something from a stranger.

"Well, guess I should introduce meself. I'm Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."

Harry peaked through Sirius's fur again, tear tracks on his cheeks.

"What about that tea then, eh?" Hagrid rubbed his hands together. "I'd not say no ter summat stronger if yeh've got it, mind."

When no one answered him he turned to the empty grate with the shriveled in it. He bent over the fireplace and when he drew back a second later there was a roaring fire there. He then started pulled things out of his pockets and began to make his tea and a few sausages. Dudley fidgeted a little.

"Don't touch anything he gives you, Dudley." Vernon said sharply.

Hagrid chuckled. "Yer great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore Dursley, don' worry."

He held the sausages out to Harry. Once again it took quite a bit of time before Harry reached out to take what was offered. He dropped three of the six sausages on the floor for Sirius, who happily snapped them up. Hagrid chuckled again and pulled an old dog biscuit out of his coat for Sirius. He only took a bite of that, it was moldy.

Harry buried his nose in Sirius's fur and took a few deep breaths before saying, "W-who-" Hagrid turned to him eagerly, Harry was talking! Of course the second Hagrid looked at him Harry's voice failed him again. The boy bit his lip so hard Sirius was afraid it'd start to bleed.

Hagrid looked a little disappointed. "Who am I?" he guessed. Harry clung to Sirius and nodded slightly. "Call me Hagrid. Everyone does. Like I said before I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts- yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course."

Harry shook his head and looked on the verge of tears again. Hagrid looked shocked. Harry squeaked out a small "Sorry." Sirius started licking his face again in an attempt to make the boy smile. Harry offered him a small half-hearted one. Sirius sighed.

"Yeh've no need to be sorry, Harry." Hagrid said gently. "It's not yer fault. It's them who should be sorry. But Harry, didn' yeh ever wonder where yer parents learned it all?"

Harry looked at him in confusion. He swallowed a few times. His voice was a whisper. "What?"

"Yeh don' know?" Harry shook his head tightening his hold on Sirius again. Hagrid jumped up and turned on the Dursley's looking furious. They cowered against the wall. "Now wait jus' one second! Do you mean ter tell me that this boy- knows nothin' abou'- about ANYTHING?"

Harry had started crying softly into Sirius's fur. Sirius growled at Hagrid. Couldn't that great fool see that that was a terrible way of phrasing things? Honestly, he'd basically just called Harry stupid. The boy had been called that for years. Way to bring back bad memories Hagrid.

The giant seemed to notice and quickly crouched down next to Harry. "I don't mean to say yer not smart Harry. I jus' mean yeh don' know abou' our world."

Harry sniffled and glanced up at him, confused.

Hagrid turned back to the Dursleys still furious. Vernon looked pale and tried to say something, but it sounded like total gibberish.

"See Harry, where I'm from yer mom and dad are famous. You're famous." Harry frowned. His lip was bleeding from how badly he'd bitten it. "Yeh don' know what yeh are do yeh?" Harry blinked.

"Stop!" Vernon had found his voice. "Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell the boy anything!"

Hagrid glared at him. "You never told him. Never told what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer him? I was there! I saw him leave it Dursley! An' you kept it from him all these years?"

Sirius touched Hagrid's leg with a paw to remind him that Harry still didn't know.

Hagrid opened his mouth as Vernon yelled in panic, "STOP! I FORBID YOU!" Petunia gasped in horror.

"Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh." He turned back to Harry. "Harry- yer a wizard." Silence. Harry shook his head and held Sirius. "I think it's abou' time yeh read yer letter."

It took Harry a lot less time to take the letter than it had the other things. Sirius knew it would be a standard welcome to Hogwarts letter complete with a list of stuff muggles would have trouble finding. Harry frowned and pointed to the bottom of the letter.

"Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me." Hagrid pulled an owl out of his pocket along with a quill and some parchment. Sirius grabbed his service dog jacket- Harry had taken it off when they were getting ready for bed- and trotted over to show Hagrid. "No. Sorry, Shadow. They don't allow students to bring dogs."

Harry took a couple quick breaths. "If Shadow can't go I won't either!" His eyes widened and he clapped his hands over his mouth. Sirius dropped his jacket and trotted back to Harry's side.

Hagrid frowned thoughtfully. "I'll see what I can do."

Harry hugged Sirius tight as Hagrid finished his letter and threw the owl out into the storm.

"He's not going even if that dog's approved." Vernon announced. He still looked pale.

"I'd like to see a muggle like you try to stop him."

"We swore when we took him in we'd stamp out this rubbish. Wizard indeed!"

"You knew." Harry choked out.

"Of course we knew!" Petunia shrieked suddenly. Harry shrank back. "How could you not be my dratted sister being what she was?" Sirius yawned and tuned out Petunia's rant. Lily had mentioned that Petunia had gotten especially nasty after they found out she was a witch. Apparently she'd tried to get Dumbledore to let her into Hogwarts too. Even after all these years she was still jealous of her baby sister.

Sirius tuned back into the conversation just before Hagrid gave Dudley a pig's tail a few minutes later, after Vernon called Dumbledore an old fool or something.

Once the Dursleys had fled to the other room Hagrid stretched. "Well, best get some rest. Big day tomorrow. If yeh like I could tell yeh why yer so famous in the morning." Harry nodded and soon after they all fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's longer than most of the other chapters I'll post, ever probably. Also, a lot of it is either straight from the book or is just slightly rephrased. Sorry about that. Let's hope that doesn't happen with the next one.


	5. Gringotts

When Sirius woke the next morning he heard Harry whispering to himself. "It was all a dream. When I open my eyes I'll be back in my cupboard." Sirius sat up and licked Harry's face as an owl started tapping on the window. 

Harry giggled and pushed him off. "Shadow!" he blinked in surprise at the owl. He hesitated before going to open the window. It swooped in and dropped the newspaper it carried on top of Hagrid, then it started to attack his coat.

Sirius pawed at Hagrid's still sleeping form. When he finally looked up Harry pointed to the owl.

"Pay him." Hagrid grunted.

Sirius started nosing through the pockets of Hagrid's coat until he found a pouch, which he presented to Harry. Harry smiled and scratched his ears as he took it. He stared at Hagrid, nervously waiting for an amount.

Hagrid yawned. "Give him five of the little bronze ones, they're called Knuts."

Harry searched the bag carefully, just to be sure all the bronze ones were the same size and he didn't give the owl the wrong kind, then pulled out five of the coins and carefully placed them in the pouch on the owls leg. He frequently glanced up at Hagrid to make sure he wasn't doing anything he wasn't supposed to.

Hagrid sat up and stretched as the owl flew out the window. Harry glanced into the bag with the money curiously before closing it up quickly and handing it back to Hagrid.

"Best be off, lots ter do today, gotta get up ter London to buy all yer stuff fer school."

Harry grabbed Sirius's service jacket and the leash that went with it. Hagrid waited patiently for him to finish getting ready before they left. He encouraged Harry to eat the left over sausages and some birthday cake as he grabbed his coat off the floor. Harry dropped half the sausages for Sirius but didn't let him have any cake, afraid he'd get sick if he did.

Once outside Harry looked around for another boat. "I flew here." Hagrid told him. "We'll go back in this though. Not s'pposed ter use magic now I've got yeh."

Sirius wondered who made that rule. If Hagrid was allowed to go get Harry why wasn't he allowed to use magic to help them out now? He should be able to use it to get them off this rock if nothing else.

After settling in the boat Hagrid said, "Seems a shame to row. If I was ter- er- speed things up a bit, would yeh mind not mentionin' it to anyone at Hogwarts?"

Harry smiled and nodded. Hagrid tapped the pink umbrella he had with him on the side of the boat and they were off. "Now then. I said I'd tell yeh abou' why you're famous. Wan' me to tell yeh now or..."

Harry nodded again, gently stroking Sirius's back.

"Right, well, there was this wizard who went bad. As bad as you could go. His name was V- V-." Hagrid sighed. Harry was watching him with concern. Hagrid took a deep breath. "Voldemort. Don' make me say it again, okay?" Another nod. "Anyway this wizard..."

Sirius went back to sleep as Hagrid told the story. He didn't want to hear about his best friends' deaths. Harry had a right to know and Sirius was a little relieved that he wouldn't have to be the one to tell him.

\---------------line break----------------

After the boat reached shore they headed to a train station to get to London. People kept staring at Hagrid, which was near torture for Harry since it sometimes seemed like they were staring at him.

"Still got yer letter, Harry?" Hagrid asked.

Harry pulled the letter out of his pocket and showed it to him.

"Good. There's a list of everything yeh need."

Harry read the list and frowned down at Sirius, who rested his chin on Harry's leg.

"Don' worry. I know where we can get all of it. Jus' need to know everything we're lookin' fer."

\---------------line break----------------------

Sirius was worried about how Harry would react to the wizarding world. People would want to talk to him, shake his hand, ask for an autograph, that sort of thing. Harry didn't really like attention. He'd once told Sirius that he wanted to be the sort of person who could thrive around other people. Or that he could deal with them at all! Still, it was Sirius's job to help him through this. He got ready to bite and bark as they entered the Leaky Cauldron.

"Hagrid! Your usual?" the bartender called.

"Can't, Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business." Hagrid clapped a hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry dug his fingers into Sirius's fur.

"Good Lord." Tom said. "It's Harry Potter."

And then the crowd rushed him. Sirius didn't pay attention to who was saying what. He just watched Harry. The boy was trembling, tears filled his eyes as he started to panic. Hagrid tried to call people off, but of course the excitement of meet Harry Potter meant that no one really listened. Harry was falling into a full blown panic attack. Sirius began barking, trying to warn the crowd, to make them go away. They kept reaching out to touch Harry, wanting to shake his hand or say thanks or whatever they were doing. When one woman came back to force Harry into another handshake, Sirius snapped. Harry was completely frozen with fear, unable to say anything or even let the tears in his eyes fall, so Sirius acted for him. He lunged forward and bit the woman's hand. She leapt back and had the audacity to scold Harry for letting his pet bite her. Harry couldn't hold back tears any longer and started crying silently. Sirius snarled at anyone who came close to his godson. A couple other people in the crowd scowled at the woman (Sirius heard someone call her Doris) since to them it appeared that she had been the one to make Harry cry.

Hagrid pushed past a few people to get to Harry. "It's alrigh. We'll get ter somewhere quieter." He smiled down at Harry before addressing the crowd. "Harry here's not real comfortable with crowds. Tha's why he's got this dog. Keeps 'im a bit calmer. Yeh've all overwhelmed 'im so we'd best be goin' now."

Quite a few people looked a bit ashamed with themselves. Sirius snorted at them. Served them right to be ashamed, driving Harry into a panic attack like that.

Hagrid gently lead Harry into the alley behind the Leaky Cauldron. "We can stay here as long as yeh need. There'll be plenty of people in Diagon righ' now."

Harry practically collapsed. Sirius curled up against him. Harry wrapped his arms around Sirius. After almost half an hour he kissed the dog's neck. "Thanks for helping Shadow. I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't bitten her." he whispered.

Sirius licked his cheek. Of course he helped. As long as he was around he'd do anything to help Harry.

Harry squeezed him before standing and nodding at Hagrid.

"Yeh sure? I don' mind waitin' if yeh need more time." Harry nodded again. "Alrigh'. Here, I'll stay on this side of yeh an' between me an' Shadow there no one'll crowd yeh again. Sound good?"

Harry smiled at him gratefully. Hagrid returned the smile, turned, and opened the gateway to Diagon Alley. Harry stared around at everything in shock. Sirius pressed against his leg, just in case.

"Right. We'll be headed ter Gringotts first. Need ter get yeh some money to pay fer everything."

Harry looked away with a frown.

"Don' worry Harry. Yer family is very old and very respected. Yer not as rich as the Blacks er the Malfoys, but yer close. Seeing as yer the heir fer the Potter Lordship, yeh can take however much yeh want. If yer careful yeh might not have ta work fer the rest of yer life."

Harry stared at him in surprise. Sirius nudged him gently, tail wagging. Harry smiled and scratched his ears.

"Here we are." They stopped in front of the large marble building. Harry's attention was drawn to the plaque baring the warning/poem. Hagrid noticed. "Yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob Gringotts. Goblins are very serious abou' their security. Always be polite, yeh don' wan' ter be on their bad side."

Harry and Sirius followed Hagrid inside and up to one of the free counters. Thankfully, there weren't many people in here. Hagrid talked to the goblin and gave him the key to Harry's vault. Sirius figured he would hand it to Harry when they were done, instead he put it back into his pocket. Sirius barked once softly. Hagrid turned toward them, afraid Harry was having another panic attack or something. When he saw he wasn't he frowned for a moment before realizing why Sirius had barked.

Hagrid handed a letter to the goblin. "An' I also got a letter from Professor Dumbledore. It's about the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen."

The goblin read the letter carefully and handed it back to Hagrid. "Very well. I will have someone take you down to both vaults. Griphook!"

"I s'pose Shadow thinks you should hold yer own key now." Hagrid whispered as they followed Griphook down the hall. "Do yeh wan' me ter hold on ter it yerself?"

Harry blushed slightly and shrugged.

"Well, why don' yeh think on it an' let me know."

A small cart came hurtling up the tracks they'd stopped next to. Griphook gestured for them to get in. When Hagrid moved to pick Sirius to put him in the cart, the goblin stopped him. "Is the dog really necessary? He can wait here like a good pup."

Sirius glared at him. He was no pup! Harry was the pup, and he needed Sirius!

"Can't I'm afraid. Harry won' go anywhere withou' 'im. Will yeh Harry?"

Harry gripped Sirius's fur and nodded.

Griphook sighed. "Very well. But your responsible for him. If he wonders off..."

Harry swallowed and held on tighter. 

Hagrid got him to let go log enough for him to lift Sirius into the cart. Sirius was a little annoyed by that. Honestly he could've jumped! Harry got in next to him and, as always, his arms went around Sirius's neck. Once Hagrid got in they were off. Sirius let his tongue loll out as they sped along. He could see Harry grinning. Hagrid on the other hand, looked like he was gonna be sick.

Harry was in awe when they got to his vault. Seeing all that money and Hagrid assuring him that it was all his? Sirius couldn't even imagine how Harry felt about all that. Hagrid explained how the money worked as they scooped some into a bag.

They went to vault seven hundred and thirteen next. Sirius tried to sniff at the package Hagrid brought out, but he shoved it into his coat before he could. "Sorry Shadow. Very secret this is. I can't risk letting you have a look."

Naturally that made Sirius even more curious about what was in the package, but he let it go for now. He was still a Marauder. He'd find out eventually.


	6. Robes and Wands

After leaving Gringotts Hagrid steered Harry towards Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. They stopped outside the shop.

"Listen Harry, I need to do a couple things. Do yeh mind going in on yer own? I'll be back by the time yeh've finished and yeh've still got Shadow teh take care of yeh."

Harry frowned, thinking. He scratched Sirius's head for a moment before nodding.

"Alright then. Don' worry. I'll be back soon." Hagrid walked off quickly.

Harry stared at the door for a few seconds. Sirius nudged him towards it gently. He smiled at the dog before opening the door and heading inside.

"Hogwarts dear?" Madam Malkin said. She looked a lot like what Sirius remembered from his school days, still squat and cheerful looking. "Got the lot here- another young man being fitted up just now, in fact."

Harry forced a small, weak smile at her. Madam Malkin noticed Sirius with a frown.

"Your dog is going to have to wait outside."

Sirius felt a flash of annoyance. He'd forgotten that most wizards wouldn't know about service dogs, but still, couldn't she read his jacket? Harry needed him!

Harry held the scruff of Sirius's neck. He swallowed a few times, sweat broke out of his forehead. "I- I can't..." he shook his head, tears filled his eyes. Sirius turned, licked his hands, and rubbed his head on the boy's stomach. Harry relaxed. No one had- or would- take Sirius away from him.

Madam Malkin sighed. "I suppose I could make an exception. I assume a, uh, service dog. is a muggle thing?"

Harry nodded a little, he was shaking slightly.

"Alright. Come on back and we'll get you fitted."

Another boy was standing on the stool next to Harry's. The boy looked like Lucius Malfoy, who'd been a couple years above Sirius and his friends in school. Sirius figured this was his son. He had no idea what the boy's first name was.

Harry had to let go of Sirius's leash as he stepped onto the stool. He knew Harry was afraid of pulling on Sirius's leash too hard and hurting him. Not that he would, but holding his arms up with a leash around his wrist would've been uncomfortable for both of them so Sirius supposed it was for the best.

"Hello." Malfoy said, "Hogwarts too?"

Harry swallowed and nodded, not meeting the boy's eyes.

Sirius rolled his own eyes and zoned out of the conversation. He paid attention to Harry's body language, of course, but not whatever Malfoy was saying. At least not until Malfoy noticed him.

"Say, how'd you manage to get a dog in here!"

Sirius huffed before stepping over to sniff him. 

When Malfoy reached down to pet him the witch adjusting his robes scowled. "Do keep still! I'll end up pinning you if you start moving."

Malfoy rolled his eyes, but held still. His attention was drawn to the window as Sirius went back to Harry's side.

"I say, look at that man!"

Hagrid stood outside with two large ice cream cones. When he saw Harry looking at him he grinned and pointed at them to show why he hadn't come in. Harry relaxed a little when he saw him.

"Is he with you?" Malfoy asked.

Harry nodded once. He was chewing his lip nervously. Sirius could only hope that Malfoy continued only asking yes or no questions. Naturally once he thought that Malfoy stopped doing it.

"Why is he with you? Where are your parents?"

Harry froze completely. Sirius rubbed his head on Harry's leg, comforting him as best he could. Harry's hand dropped to Sirius's fur despite Madam Malkin asking him not to.

Malfoy frowned. "Are you alright? Did I say something?"

Harry hesitated before nodding slowly. Then his eyes widened, he looked over at Malfoy and shook his head wildly. Sirius figured that Harry was scared Malfoy would be offended and hate him if he blamed him for anything.

Malfoy looked confused for a moment before realization dawned on his face. "Are they um, dead?"

Harry nodded looking away again.

Sirius blinked at the blond boy. He seemed to take after his father, but for just a second he could see his mother- and Sirius's cousin- in him. When they were younger Narcissa had been the second most compassionate. For awhile Sirius even thought she'd be more like Andromeda than Bellatrix. Unfortunately, Narcissa always wanted to please her parents. She never became as cruel as Bellatrix, just cold. Sirius missed the younger Narcissa, they could've been friends if she was a little more rebellious.

Sirius realized he'd zoned out again. Harry was finished and picking up his leash so they could leave.

Outside, Hagrid grinned and handed him and ice cream cone. "There's chocolate in tha' so don' let yer dog at it." Harry smiled up at him and they continued down the street to get the rest of Harry's things.

\------------------line break------------

They had almost finished shopping, Harry just needed his wand, when Hagrid brought up the fact that he still hadn't gotten him a birthday present. Harry looked at him in shock when he mentioned it and shook his head to let him know that it wasn't necessary. Hagrid just smiled.

"I know, I'll get yeh a pet." he glanced down at Sirius, "Er, another one I s'pose. Let's see. Toads are out of fashion- people might tease yeh fer havin' one. Cat wouldn't be good either. I'm not a fan of cats, and neither are dogs, wouldn't want to distract Shadow. How abou' an owl? They're dead useful. All the kids wan' owls nowadays." 

Sirius sniffed out any owl Harry looked at, just to be safe. In the end he got a beautiful female snowy owl. As they left the shop Harry couldn't seem to stop stammering out his thanks. Hagrid reassured him that it was alright, kids were supposed to get presents on their birthday, and he was only sorry that Harry had't gotten more over the years.

Sirius's tail was wagging like crazy as he realized that this was the most Harry had ever said to Hagrid. He was very proud of his godson right then.

When they reached Ollivanders Sirius started to get a little worried. He knew Mr. Ollivander could sneak up on people really easily- Sirius still wasn't sure if he did it on purpose or not- and he didn't know how Harry would react.

Sirius pressed against Harry's leg as they entered the shop.

"Good afternoon," said a soft voice. Harry jumped, his fingers digging almost painfully into Sirius's fur. Not that he minded, of course.

Once again Sirius didn't pay much attention to the words being said, just Harry's body language. When Ollivander moved too close and touched Harry's scar, Sirius growled softly at him. Ollivander just looked down at him and frowned thoughtfully.

"Interesting." he murmured.

It took Harry a long time to find a wand. Sirius didn't remember it taking this long. And he was sure one of his friends would've mentioned it if it had for any of them.

After the fifth wand Harry started to apologize for being so difficult. Ollivander reassured him, but a few wands later he was apologizing again, and then he apologized for apologizing. This time Hagrid and Sirius comforted him as best the could. The wands were piled pretty high on the counter when Harry broke. He sobbed once, and apologized for being a nuisance and so difficult to find a wand for. Ollivander looked a little surprised. Harry's breath was choppy and he shook as he continued apologizing for causing a scene and making so much trouble for them and rambling on like he was. Sirius could tell he was on the verge of another attack. He barked twice before rubbing against Harry, nuzzling his hands and stomach and licking him. Hagrid tried to comfort him again and Ollivander pulled down a couple more wands- he put away quite a few as well, just in case.

Harry calmed down after another few minutes and Ollivander asked him politely if he'd like to keep trying. Harry hesitated before nodding.

Another 10 minutes, and several apologies, later they found the right wand for Harry. He smiled weakly and paid. Naturally he apologized again before they left the shop.

Hagrid bought them something to eat before getting them on a train back to the Dursley's house. He gave Harry his Hogwarts ticket and a bit of information (date and time) as well as getting Harry to promise he'd send his owl with a letter for him if the Dursley's gave him any more trouble. After he left Sirius realized he'd forgotten to tell Harry how to get onto the platform. He sighed. Well, at least Sirius remembered. Now all they had to do was wait until September 1.


	7. The Hogwarts Express part 1

The last month with the Dursleys was easier. Sure, they ignored Harry- Dudley seemed terrified of him- but at least they weren't starving him or making him do all those ridiculous chores. Harry was a little depressed (being ignored was never fun), but Sirius did his best to cheer him up.

The last day of August Harry asked Vernon for a ride to King's Cross. He agreed and Harry ran off to make sure he had packed everything he'd need before Vernon could say anything else.

The next day Harry, the Dursleys, and Sirius drove to King's Cross. Dudley and Petunia came along since they were taking Dudley to get his pig's tail removed. Vernon stopped the car in front of the station and drove off the second Harry got his trunk out of the car. They watched them drive away before getting a trolley for Harry's trunk and Hedwig- Harry's owl.

Sirius led Harry to the entrance of platform 9 3/4. Harry frowned. "Well, now what do we do?" he muttered, "The platform should be around here, but it clearly isn't."

Sirius walked around behind Harry and started pushing him to the wall.

"No, Shadow. That's just a wall."

Sirius huffed and ran in front of him, tugging him to the entrance.

"Shadow," he hissed, "What's gotten into you?"

Harry let go of his leash to keep the cart from falling over. Sirius ran onto the platform then turned and stared at the wall for a second. When Harry didn't follow he rolled his eyes and ran back to the boy.

Harry stared at him in shock as he appeared from the wall. "Shadow." Sirius trotted back to him and waited for him to pick up his leash again. Once he had they went through to the platform together. Harry looked at everything in awe. Sirius could hardly blame him. His reaction had been similar the first time he;d seen it, and he'd been raised as a wizard.

The two of them started looking for an empty compartment. It took them a while, but they finally found one near the end of the train and got Harry's stuff settled. Harry sat down and patted the bench next to him twice. Sirius jumped up onto it and rested his head on Harry's lap. Harry scratched his ears as he stared at the families saying goodbye to each other out on the platform.

"I wonder what it would've been like if my parents were still alive." he whispered, "Do you think they would've loved me? Like how Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon love Dudley. Or was Uncle Vernon right and I'm just unlovable?"

Sirius stared at him. He licked the boy's cheek. Harry giggled.

"I know you love me, Shadow. But animals are different. It's people who can't love me. At least, that's what Uncle Vernon always said."

Sirius felt a new burst of hatred for those stupid muggles. How dare they say such things to his godson!

A few minutes later a pair of red headed twins poked their heads into the compartment.

"Hi." One said brightly, "Mind if we sit in here? Everywhere else is full."

"Or has people we don't like." The other chimed in.

Harry held a fistful of Sirius's fur. He nodded reluctantly and the twins sat down across from them.

"I'm Fred."

"And I'm George."

"Weasley." They finished together.

"What's your name?" Fred asked.

"And how'd you smuggle the dog in?" George said.

Harry swallowed a few times, like with Malfoy he didn't meet their eyes. Sirius huffed and jumped off the bench. A low whine tore from Harry. He clapped his hands over his mouth in horror. Sirius licked his hand before moving over to let the twins see his tags.

"Shadow huh?" George grinned at him. "Cool name."

Fred nodded in agreement. Sirius jumped back onto the seat next to Harry.

"I'm guessing 'service dog' is a muggle thing, right?" Fred said. Sirius was pleased people were actually reading his jacket.

Harry nodded again.

"You still haven't told us your name." George pointed out.

Harry swallowed a few times, his hold on Sirius's fur tightened. "H-Harry." The twins had to lean forward to hear him.

"Harry?" Fred repeated. He nodded. "Well it's nice to meet ya!"

Harry tried to smile at them before turning to look out the window again. The train had left the station and they were just entering he countryside now. It was quiet for a while. The twins whispered to each other, but neither spoke a word to Harry. Sirius heard one of them say Harry's name and quickly realized they were trying to figure out if Harry was the Boy-Who-Lived. 

After another few minutes George spoke, "Is your last name Potter, by any chance?"

Harry nodded hesitantly. It was clear to Sirius that he remembered how the people in the Leaky Cauldron had reacted to his name and didn't want a repeat.

The twin smirked, "I thought so, told ya Fred."

Fred made a face at him. Harry smiled a bit. It was small, but genuine which gave Sirius some hope that Harry would make friends with the twins. Even if they were two years older.

The twins did their best to get Harry to warm up to them. They stuck to yes or no questions about things that didn't matter much. Do you like chocolate? Is Shadow your only pet? Are you nervous? Things like that. After a while the candy trolley came by.

"Are you hungry?" Fred asked.

Harry chewed his lower lip and nodded, blushing. The three stood and looked over what was there. Harry was a bit confused by the choices. None of it was muggle candy- Sirius thought that they should add some muggle candy for the muggleborns, give them something familiar- so he didn't know what he would like. He blushed when he realized how much time he was taking. He grabbed some chocolate frogs and pumpkin pasties, paid and rushed back into the compartment, breathing hard.

Sirius curled against him when he sat down again. The twins reentered a moment later with a few treats of their own. Harry fed Sirius one of his pumpkin pasties and opened a chocolate frog for himself.

The twins offered him a Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean and a Licorice Wand. He was pretty hesitant in taking them but eventually did. He made a face at the bean.

"Bad flavor?" One of them guessed. Sirius wasn't sure they had sat down in the same spots so he couldn't be sure which was Fred and which was George anymore.

Harry nodded and looked at the Licorice Wand suspiciously.

The other twin laughed. "Don't worry, the beans are the only risky candies. The wands are good though."

Harry tried it and looked rather pleased with it. He broke off a piece on the end and fed it to Sirius.

"Is it alright to feed him sweets? I thought that was bad for dogs."

Harry shrugged and scratched Sirius's ear. The twins started asking questions again and Sirius drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt like this was getting too long so I decided to cut the train ride in half.


	8. The Hogwarts Express part 2

Sirius woke up when Harry stiffened. The door of their compartment opened and a girl with bushy, brown hair stepped in alongside a round-faced boy who had tears in his eyes. Sirius thought he looked vaguely familiar. Maybe he'd known the boy's parents?

"Have any of you seen a toad? Neville here lost his." She said.

'Neville!' Sirius thought 'I thought he'd look a bit more like Frank.'

"No, sorry." one of the twins said.

"We can help you look if you want." the other chimed in.

"Really?" Neville sniffed.

"Sure." they chorused.

"Harry, why don't you stay here?" They stood.

"Yeah, Shadow there might scare it off." the twin winked.

Harry smiled a little before looking away. Once the others had left the compartment Sirius sat up and licked Harry's cheek. He hugged the dog tightly.

A few minutes later the door opened again and the Malfoy boy from the robe shop came in. He frowned slightly, confused.

"You're that boy I met in Diagon Alley right? In Madam Malkins?"

Harry nodded.

"I heard people saying Harry Potter was in this compartment. Is that you?"

Another nod. This time accompanied by a blush.

"Oh. Sorry, you're just not what I expected."

Harry's blush darkened and he hid his face in Sirius's fur.

Malfoy shifted his weight nervously before he seemed to catch himself. He straightened and Sirius realized with amusement that he was trying to act like his father again. He kind of wished he could speak so he could tell the boy that arrogance didn't win friends. Because he could see that that's what Malfoy was trying to do. Win friends by acting like his arrogant father.

"I didn't introduce myself before. My name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." He stuck his hand out and watched Harry closely for a reaction.

Sirius felt like laughing. The way the boy introduced himself sounded like a muggle spy movie Sirius had watched years ago. He pushed back the feeling and nudged Harry so he'd make a decision. Harry looked up and shook Draco's hand quickly. Draco smiled in relief.

"Do you mind if I sit in here? I'm kind of trying to avoid someone. Or someones I guess. My parents want me to be friends with them, but they're pretty thick."

Sirius huffed, amused. He was babbling. A Malfoy. Babbling. He'd never thought he'd see that.

Harry nodded and Draco sat down across from him. "You don't talk much, do you?"

He shook his head fingers clutching Sirius's fur.

"I'll have to stick to yes and no questions then." Draco thought for a moment. "Do you know what Hogwarts house you're going to be in?"

Harry frowned in confusion and shook his head.

"I think I'll be in Slytherin. My whole family's been in it so I'm pretty sure I will be too. My father says that's where all the best people go, so I have to be in it to get good connections. He also said the other houses are complete rubbish. Ravenclaws are too absorbed in their books to know what's happening in the real world, Hufflepuffs are a bunch of duffers, and Gryffindors all have some sort of brain damage. They're all just too reckless, it's the only explanation. The way he said it Slytherin is the only good house."

Sirius snorted. Figured Malfoy would say things like that. Still, it was interesting. It all sounded familiar of course. He'd heard mostly the same kind of things growing up. His parents way of making sure their prejudices stayed strong and they didn't "taint" the bloodline. He guessed it was a pureblood thing.

Harry was shifting uncomfortably. Of course, he knew next to nothing about the Hogwarts houses. He probably felt stupid or something since he didn't know.

Draco continued chattering away, occasionally asking questions. He actually got Harry to smile a few times. Sirius wondered if they'd end up being friends. He wasn't sure whether to hope for such a thing. On one hand, Harry needed friends. On the other, the boy was a Malfoy. What if he tried to pull Harry into the Dark Arts? Sirius decided to wait. His time in Azkaban had taught him a lot about waiting. If Draco was a good friend to Harry, excellent. If not, well, Sirius was confident in his ability to drive the boy away.

"Harry?" Draco said. He seemed pretty nervous again, "Are we friends?"

Harry hesitated.

"I mean, I'd like to be friends." he smiled almost playfully, "I might even be able to tolerate you if you end up in another house."

Harry blushed slightly.

"So. Are we?"

Harry nodded a small smile touching his lips.

The Weasley twins came back into the compartment, laughing. Draco scowled at them.

"Do you mind? We were trying to have a conversation. Do you often barge onto other people's compartments?" Draco snapped.

"Actually, we were here first." one twin answered, "Right Harry?"

Draco turned to look at him. Harry smiled sheepishly and nodded, fingers gripping Sirius's fur like a lifeline.

Draco blushed, "Oh. Well, I guess I should ask your names. Your first ones anyway, you're clearly Weasleys."

He said 'Weasleys' with a trace of disdain. Sirius disapproved. The twins had been very nice to his godson.

When they introduced themselves Sirius did his best to keep track of which was which. It was easier when they sat down, Fred next to Draco and George next to him.

Draco turned to Harry, "What are you doing with Weasleys anyway? Father always said they were stupid blood traitors who won't amount to anything and shouldn't be spoken to." 

"Well your father's wrong." George snapped.

"Our parents said that Malfoys are all slimy gits. Does that mean we shouldn't give you a chance?" Fred glared.

Draco frowned.

Harry was sweating a little and there were tears in his eyes when he spoke. "Please stop."

They all looked at him in shock.

"What was that, Harry?" Fred's voice was much gentler now.

Harry tugged just a little on Sirius's fur. Sirius sat up so Harry could bury his face in the dog's shoulder. "Just stop, please. I- I've n- never had fr-friends before a-and I d-d-don't want t-to lose a-any b-be-because you w-were f-fighting." Sirius could feel his fur getting wet with Harry's tears. Sirius hadn't heard him speak so much in front of anyone, well besides him.

George reached across Sirius to hug Harry. "I'm sorry." he whispered, "We won't fight anymore. You won't lose any of us. Right?" He looked up at his twin and Draco, both of whom nodded firmly.

"You're stuck with us now Harry." Fred smirked, "It'll take a lot to get rid of us."

Draco rolled his eyes. "I guess I can tolerate them. For you of course."

Harry smiled.

An hour or so later they changed into their school robes and the train pulled into the station.

"See you two in the Great Hall!" George called as they parted ways.

"Can't wait to see where you two end up." Fred grinned.

Draco wrapped an arm around Harry. "Come on, Father said first years take boats to the castle. We need to get a free one so Shadow can fit."

Sirius followed the two feeling rather pleased. It looked like Harry would get some good friends after all. Even if one of them was a Malfoy.


	9. Sorting

Draco, Harry, and Sirius walked over to where they could hear Hagrid calling out to the first years. Sirius kept so close to Harry that his side brushed Harry's leg with every step. They could only have four kids to a boat and Hagrid said that Sirius counted as a kid. Naturally, Draco hopped into the boat with him and Harry. A thickset, mean looking boy joined them.

Draco whispered to Harry, "That's Goyle. He's one of the people I was trying to get away from."

Harry frowned slightly and held onto Sirius a little tighter.

Thankfully, the boy didn't speak on the ride to the castle. Harry and Draco didn't really either. Sirius watched the awe on Harry's face with amusement. He'd spent his first ride here much the same. Of course, he'd had James, Remus and Peter with him. Sirius sighed. He could already tell that any free time he had would be plagued by memories while he was here.

As always, McGonagall took the first years to the Great Hall and gave the same speech Sirius remembered from his first year. He didn't pay attention.

He closed his eyes and remembered standing here in his first year. James by his side, they'd already become friends on the train though they hadn't really spoken to Remus or Peter yet. He remembered how scared he was of being put into Slytherin like the rest of his family. James had teased him and tried to get his mind off it. He'd been so relieved to be put into Gryffindor with James. Still, waiting to be let in, and then for his name to be called had been nerve-wracking.

When they were finally let in and the sorting started Sirius wondered where Harry would end up. He wouldn't really care if Harry ended up in a different house than he had. He was pretty sure that the twins would stay friends with him no matter what and he even found himself hoping that Draco would too.

When Harry's name was called the Hall broke out in whispers. Draco had already been sorted into Slytherin so Harry glanced over at the table. Draco smiled and nodded at him. Sirius nudged him gently towards the hat. He was annoyed at everyone gawking at his godson like that. Honestly, he was a child, like them. Couldn't they at least try and be subtle.

Sirius sat next to the stool while McGonagall put the hat on Harry's head. He was under there much longer than Sirius thought he would be. He noticed him start to shift nervously after a while.

Finally, the hat called out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table erupted in cheers. Harry hurried over and the twin shifted to make room for him. The second to last person sorted was the twins' younger brother, Ron. He sat across from Harry and spent a few minutes just staring at him. Harry kept his head down and one hand in Sirius's fur.

"I thought Mum told you that it's not polite to stare Ronniekins." one twin said.

Ron blushed and mumbled an apology to Harry who nodded slightly.

"Ron here can keep an eye out for you during classes." announced the twin on the right.

"But if there's any trouble be sure to tell us as soon as possible and we can take care of it for you." the one on the left chimed in.

"Thanks for volunteering me." Ron snorted.

Both twins glared at him. He rolled his eyes, "I'll do it of course, it just would've been nice if you'd asked me."

As usual Harry slipped him food during the meal. Sirius hadn't been this well-fed since before Azkaban, and he wasn't sure Harry had ever had this much food.

Afterwards, the twins were the ones to show Harry and Ron up to the common room. Their older brother, Percy, was one of the prefects who were supposed to show them, but the twins insisted on showing Harry (and Ron since he had tagged along) themselves.

Sirius didn't pay attention to what they were saying. He kept looking around the halls. Hogwarts hadn't changed at all since he'd graduated. The only difference was the faces of the students. Still, Sirius could almost hear his friends. James cracking jokes about the new DADA teacher while Peter laughed. Remus shaking his head while reminding them that they would need to figure out how strict he was and when he left his classroom before they pranked him.

It got worse when they reached the boy's dormitory. How many pranks had they planned up here? They had worked out Remus's secret in a room exactly like this one floor up. They'd become Animagi in these dormitories, and created the Marauders' Map. He'd listened to James talk about Lily for hours in these rooms. He'd helped find the best ways to get revenge on people who bullied Peter. He'd help Remus prepare for full moons just before he left for the Shrieking Shack.

Nostalgia hit him like a wave. He could never have this again. Not just because they'd graduated. James was dead, Peter was a traitor, and Remus thought he was a the one responsible for the deaths of James, Lily, and Peter. The closest he could get to his friends now was Harry. And he had no intention of letting anything ever happen to him. And maybe, just maybe, one day he could mend his friendship with Remus.

Harry climbed into bed and Sirius jumped up next to him.

"I think we'll be happy here, Shadow." he whispered, "I just hope Draco will still be friends with me now that we're in different houses."

Sirius licked his cheek and curled against his side. Harry's arms wrapped around him like he was a teddy bear and the two were asleep in moments.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, since we're now at Hogwarts and this is from Sirius's perspective I'm gonna try and add in some Marauder stuff. Most of it will be made up since we didn't get to see much of the Marauder days, but I'll do my best and tell me what you think.


	10. Lessons

The next day was stressful. Whispers followed Harry and Sirius from the second they left the dormitory. Fred and George kept on either side of them on the way to breakfast. Just before leaving they made sure Ron was going to watch out for him in class. Even then they insisted on walking them to their first class.

The classes themselves were hard for Sirius. Seeing the changes- or lack there of- in his old teachers was bizarre. Not to mention all the memories coming back to him.

He and James sending feathers and things flying at the Slytherins in Charms while Flitwick wasn't looking. Getting Remus to help him with last minute homework while Binns droned on about goblin wars. Trying (and failing) to keep under McGonagall's radar during class while passing notes. Keeping Peter from accidentally killing whatever plant Sprout had them working on. The only teacher Harry had had so far that Sirius hadn't was Professor Quirrell. Sirius wasn't sure about him. Something was definitely off.

Still, all through Harry's classes Sirius caught himself turning to say something to one of his old friends only to remember they weren't there. He was a dog. And that was going to be how it stayed until he could think of a way to clear his name.

\---------------line break-----------------

Friday brought an unexpected surprise with the mail. Harry's owl, Hedwig, flew in with and dropped a note on Harry's plate. Sirius couldn't read it, which was frustrating, but George noticed it and asked who it was from.

Harry smiled a little at him and handed him the note. Fred could've read it over his shoulder, but Ron got him to read it out loud.

"'Dear Harry,'" George read, "'I know you've got Friday afternoons off, so would you and Shadow like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three? I want to hear all about your first week. Send an answer back with Hedwig, Hagrid.' That's nice of him. Do you want to go?"

Harry nodded. Fred handed him a quill.

"Do you want us to come along?" Ron asked hesitantly.

Harry froze for a second. "I-If you w-want to." he whispered.

"George and I can't." Fred sighed, "Unlike you lucky little firsties,"

"We've still got class." George finished.

Harry nodded. He started to write a reply then looked up suddenly and pointed to the Slytherin table.

"You want Mal- er- Draco to go with you?" Fred guessed.

Harry nodded again.

"Have you seen him since the sorting?" George asked.

He shook his head, looking a little upset.

"Wait, you're friends with a Slytherin?" Ron said incredulously.

Harry frowned before nodding.

Ron still looked shocked.

Fred flicked a piece of toast at him.

"You've got double Potions with the Slytherins this morning." George reminded him.

"If you still want to be friends,"

"Then ask him in class."

Harry smiled at them and finished his reply to Hagrid.

\--------------line break-------------

When they got to the Potions classroom Harry immediately started looking for Draco. Draco looked relieved when he saw them and motioned to the empty seat next to him. Harry rushed over and sat down, glancing back at Ron expectantly. He sighed before going over to take the seat on Harry's other side.

"You didn't tell me your Slytherin friend was a Malfoy." Ron said scowling.

Harry paled.

"Deal with it Weasley, I was here first." Draco sneered.

Sirius growled softly to quiet them. Harry was shaking slightly, afraid that he was going to lose one of his friends.

Draco glared at Ron before turning to Harry, "Don't worry, Harry. I said I'd tolerate your other friends, and I will. For your sake."

Ron snorted.

Draco sniffed and ignored him. "Do you want to do something during our free period?"

Harry brightened. "Do you want to come meet Hagrid with us." It was a little hard to hear him since everyone else was talking while they waited for the teacher.

He hesitated. "Umm, sure."

Harry grinned.

When the teacher swept into the class Sirius couldn't help but think that it was a good thing he was a dog right now. It he wasn't he'd either be laughing or his jaw would be on the floor.

Snivellus Snape was the Potions teacher. He couldn't believe it. It wasn't that long ago, in this very room, that James and he had bullied Snape. They'd even sabotaged his potions a couple times (always in revenge and never in a way that would hurt someone, naturally). Sirius actually felt kind of bad for everything they'd done to him. For a minute that is. After that Snape's little speech was over and he started picking on Harry.

"Potter!" Snape snapped. Harry froze. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Across the room Hermione Granger's hand shot into the air. Harry had read all his schoolbooks before getting on the train, but getting called on in front of the class was one of his nightmares.

Harry shook his head slightly, pale and clutching at Sirius's fur.

Snape sneered at him. "Fame clearly isn't everything."

He ignored Hermione's hand.

"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

Harry was shaking now, tears in his eyes.

"Sir-" Draco started.

"I believe I asked Potter." Snape arched an eyebrow at him. "Still don't know?"

Harry was biting his lip so hard it was starting to bleed slightly. Sirius barked. Harry was starting to breakdown and Snape needed to shut up.

Snape ignored Sirius's bark, the blood on Harry's lip, and Hermione's still raised hand.

"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?"

Any shred of guilt Sirius had had was gone. He barked again, louder and started nuzzling Harry's hand in an attempt to comfort him as tears started to fall.

"Control your animal, Potter." Snape said.

"Sir-" Draco tried again. Ron put his arm around Harry.

When Sirius barked for the third time, Snape reached out to grab his collar and pull him away. Sirius whipped around and bit him.

Snape looked like he was going to explode.

"He needs to go calm down." Ron said, "Sir."

"Get out and I don't want that dog in here again." Snape growled.

Draco and Ron helped Harry out of the classroom. The second the door was closed Harry sank to the floor and started sobbing. Sirius stepped closer so Harry could put his arms around him. It took about twenty minutes before Harry stopped crying and another ten before Ron and Draco could convince him to go back into class.

"I can't go in without Shadow," he insisted, "I need him."

"There's only an hour left of Potions." Ron told him. "We can go talk to McGonagall about it before we go meet Hagrid."

"We can stand in for Shadow for the last bit of class." Draco chimed in.

Reluctantly, Harry told Sirius to stay and went back inside with Draco and Ron.

Sirius was furious. He knew Snape was taking out his hatred of James on Harry. How dare he? Harry was eleven and Snape decided that it was okay to torment him? And to think that for a moment, however brief, Sirius had wanted to apologize for what he and the other Marauders had done to him! Snape didn't have any excuse for taking out his anger on a child. Sirius knew that Lily had convinced James to make up with Snape, he just hadn't had the chance before going into hiding. He was pretty sure that if Remus hadn't apologized by now then he at least wanted to. They had grown up! But it looked like Snape hadn't.

When the class finally got out Sirius ran to Harry's side. The boy scratched his ears looking relieved to have him back as he slipped Sirius's leash around his wrist. Sirius sniffed him searching for any sort of injury.

"I'm alright Shadow." Harry whispered. "It's okay now."

Draco promised to meet them by the Transfiguration room during their break so they could all go to Hagrid's together. Sirius kept a close eye on Harry through the remaining classes. He was much quieter. 

At lunch he didn't even try to talk to the twins. Ron, however, was eager to tell them all about the disastrous Potions class. They actually encouraged Harry and Ron to talk to McGonagall as soon as possible. Then they started planning the best way to get revenge on Snape. Sirius really wanted to give them some advice. Still, some of the stuff they were coming up with was very good. Sirius silently declared them honorary Marauders.

When it was finally time for their break, Ron and Harry went up to talk to McGonagall. Harry was clearly nervous.

Sirius thought it was a small miracle they caught McGonagall before her next class started. She ushered them into her office.

"Now, what is it you need to tell me?"

Ron told her about the Potions class and Snape banning Sirius from his classroom. "He can't do that though right? Harry needs Shadow and it wasn't really his fault he bit Professor Snape. He was trying to warn him first. You can get him to let Shadow back in can't you Professor?"

McGonagall sighed. "Professor Snape is not a student. The most I can do is talk to him and the Headmaster. I can't promise anything," she looked down at Sirius, "Especially since Shadow bit him."

Harry's hand tightened in Sirius's fur. "Sh-Shadow was only t-trying to help m-me." he swallowed, "Please. I n-need h-him."

"I'll see what I can do."


	11. Hagrid's

Draco was waiting for the outside the classroom. "Well? What did she say?"

"She said she'd see what she could do but she couldn't make any promises." Ron sighed.

Draco nodded. "I can't believe Unc- I mean Professor Snape did that. I've known him my whole life but he was never that mean to me."

Ron snorted. "It's cause you're a Slytherin and we're Gryffindors. Everyone knows Snape hates Gryffindors. It was pretty much the only serious warning m brothers gave me before I got here."

"Why did you almost call him 'uncle'?" Harry asked.

"He's my godfather. Don't you call your godfather 'uncle'?"

The thought of Harry calling him 'Uncle Sirius' made him incredibly happy. He was pretty sure that he could take on a few dozen dementors with that thought alone. The next thing out of Harry's mouth made his mood drop.

"I don't think I have a godfather. Just my aunt and uncle, and they don't like me much."

-You do have a godfather, Harry.- Sirius thought desperately, -I'm right here.-

"If they're that bad you can come stay with us at my house." Ron said.

Draco sneered at him. "Like your house would be big enough. Harry's gonna stay with me this summer."

They had just gone outside and were crossing the grounds to Hagrid's hut.

"I could always just split the time between you two if you feel so strongly about it." Harry smiled.

"Done!" They both yelled.

Harry laughed softly.

Sirius caught sight of a particular tree in the courtyard and was hit by another memory. They'd loved to sit under that tree together. Planning pranks on the other houses, helping each other with homework. James had had this snitch he would play with. He let it fly just a little ways away before catching it again. Remus used to tease him about it. Telling him that he should've been a seeker instead of a chaser seeing as how he couldn't leave that snitch alone. After Lily and James had started dating she had come to sit with them, scolding them for certain pranks and making sure they never went too far. Remus had done that in previous years, but Sirius was sure he'd been glad for Lily's help in keeping them in line. Whenever it was nice out they'd be under that tree.

"Shadow?" Harry's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, "Are you okay, boy?"

"Maybe he saw a squirrel or something." Ron suggested.

"Maybe. I've never seen him space out like that though. I just hope he's not getting sick." Harry answered worriedly. Sirius licked his hand and started towards Hagrid's again.

Draco knocked on Hagrid's door. They heard barking and scuffling inside. The door opened to reveal a large black boar hound. Hagrid held its collar.

"Back, Fang, back." he pulled the huge dog inside so they could come in.

"Um.. will he and Shadow-" Harry started.

"Oh, don' worry abou' Fang. He's a great coward. Shadow won' have any problems."

Sirius wondered how long Hagrid had had Fang. How long did dogs live? Thirteen years give or take? Unless Fang was really old, or magical, Hagrid probably got him just after he had left Hogwarts. Fang had come over and started sniffing at him. Sirius let him. Hagrid might say Fang was a coward, but he was also big. If he got scared in here, intentional or not, he could hurt someone.

Harry's friends had introduced themselves and Hagrid was making them all some tea. The boys tried some rock cake. Harry made a face behind Hagrid's back and dropped his so Sirius could have it. He sniffed it and decided that while Hagrid seemed like a good person, he wasn't a good cook.

Hagrid insisted on hearing all about their first week. The boy's seemed delighted to hear Hagrid call Filch an old git. His reaction to hearing about Snape wasn't nearly as kind.

"I can' believe he would do tha'. Shadow was warnin' everyone an' he didn' listen. Serves 'im righ' gettin' bit." He muttered a few insults under his breath.

Harry started reading a copy of the Prophet Hagrid left lying around.

"There was a Gringotts break-in on my birthday?" Harry frowned.

"Oh, uh. Yeh don' need teh worry abou' tha' Harry. I'm sure the goblins have everythin' taken care of."

Sirius blinked. Hagrid wouldn't look at the boys when he spoke. He was hiding something. The Marauder in him wanted to go out and find what it was right now. He couldn't though. Whatever it was could get Harry in trouble and he didn't want that. Still, maybe he could do just a little snooping while Harry was asleep. Just to make sure everything was okay.


	12. Exploration and Memories

That night Sirius slipped away from the dormitory and out into the corridor. It was about time he found out just what was in the third floor corridor Dumbledore had warned them about.

As he ran through secret passages and snuck through hallways, his mind flashed back to his schooldays. James was suddenly beside him with Remus and Peter just behind. Remus whispering at them to be quiet while he and James whispered just a little too loud about the prank they were going to play and Peter giggled nervously at the idea that they might be caught. Sirius froze and closed his eyes as the memory swept over him.

"Come on, Pads. Keep up." James's voice spoke in his mind. "We've got a mystery to solve."

He would've had that gleam in his eye. The one he got when he thought of a really good prank or a "sure fire" way to get Lily to go out with him.

Sirius shook his head and continued on. He had to hurry. Harry could wake up at any time and if he wasn't there for him...

He changed back into his human form when he got to the door. "Alohomora." he whispered. The door swung open and he slipped inside.

A giant three headed dog was on the other side. Sirius swallowed, thankfully the thing was asleep. He glanced around the room. The dog's paws were resting on a trapdoor. He wondered what was down there, but there was no way he was checking now. He refused to risk waking the dog. Besides, he'd been away from Harry for too long. He got out as quietly as he could and locked the door behind him.

A cat meowed somewhere down the corridor. Mrs. Norris.

Sirius shifted back and ran back to Gryffindor Tower. The fat lady wasn't pleased when he barked at her until she woke up.

"You're Harry Potter's dog aren't you?" she frowned, "What're you doing out without your master?"

He whined at her.

"Oh fine. Silly dog." She swung open and he hurried up to the dormitory.

Harry was awake. He looked panicked as he searched the room. "Shadow, where are you?"

Sirius winced. He really should have been faster. He ran to Harry's side and started licked him. Reassuring him that he was here and he was sorry.

Harry sat on the floor next to him and wrapped his arms around him. "Where were you, Shadow? I was so worried."

Sirius licked his cheek with a whine of apology. Harry hadn't been having nightmares since they'd gotten to Hogwarts, Sirius had hoped that that meant he wouldn't wake until he got back. Looks like he was wrong.

"It's alright, boy. I was just a little scared when I woke up and you weren't there. I'm okay now. Let's go back to sleep huh?" Harry smiled at him and crawled back into bed. Sirius jumped up next to him. "Don't run off like that again, okay?"

Sirius's dream that night was a good one.

/The four of them were sitting under their tree in the courtyard. Peter was trying to burn his Transfiguration homework with his glare. Remus laughed at his expression and moved over to help him.

"What do you think Padfoot? Will Evans and I last?" James sighed.

"I hope so. If I had to watch you go through that AGAIN, with a different girl, I might strangle you." Sirius laughed.

"I wasn't that bad." James pouted.

"Yes, you were, Prongs." Remus sighed, "I swear the past couple years you only talked about pranks and Evans. With the occasional complaint about homework or talk of Quidditch."

"Wormtail, Moony and Padfoot are being mean to me."

Peter laughed, "Don't look at me, I'm with them."

James flopped back onto the grass with a dramatic groan. "Betrayed by my best friends. They, who I called brothers!"

Remus didn't bother looking up from Peter's homework. "Prongs, your Padfoot is showing."

"Oi!" Sirius pulled up a handful of grass and threw it at Remus.

Remus lifted an eyebrow before throwing some back at him. The next twenty minutes was spent with the four of them in a grass war. It only stopped when it did because Lily came over.

"Do I want to ask?" she sighed.

James swept her up in a hug. "Don't worry my Lily flower, we had it under control."

The other three Marauders exchanged amused looks.

"I'm sure," she rolled her eyes.Once she was sitting beside them she flashed a wink at the other boys and dumped a handful of glass down the back of James's shirt.

He jumped up with a yelp and tried to shake it out. "Lils, that itches," he whined.

They all burst out laughing./

"Shadow. Come on boy, it's time for breakfast." Harry's voice shattered his dream and brought him back to the waking world. "Were you having a good dream? Sorry to spoil it, but I really need something to eat."

That afternoon in seventh year was one of his happiest memories. They'd all been so happy. They'd known about the upcoming war, but they were young, still in school with their best friends. Just messing about and having fun. Then Peter had to betray them. Sirius shook his head. Peter was dead. He didn't know what scum of the earth had taken over his body, but the Peter he knew, the one he'd thought of as a younger brother, he was dead. He needed to remember that.

He sighed and followed Harry down to breakfast.

Draco dropped next to Harry at the Gryffindor table. Harry frowned slightly and looked over at the other Slytherins before turning back to Draco.

"It's Saturday, I can sit where I want."

Harry grinned. Ron, on Harry's other side, rolled his eyes but waved at Draco anyway. The twins walked over with someone from their year and sat across from Harry, who was too busy getting a plate for Sirius to notice. They waited until he'd set the plate on the ground and straightened before introducing him.

"This is our friend Lee Jordan. You guys mind if he sits with us?" One twin asked.

Draco and Ron both turned to Harry. He was the deciding factor here. Harry started chewing his lower lip, fingers tangling in Sirius's fur.

"Don't worry," Lee said, "I don't bite."

Harry whispered something to Draco, blushing.

"Harry says it's fine." Draco announced.

"Alright. Thanks, mate" Lee winked at Harry.

"So," one twin started, "Any plans of mischief this fine day?"

Sirius nearly choked on his breakfast. He'd said those exact words to the other Marauders countless times.

"Not really." Ron shrugged. "We were just going to hang around outside."

"Is that all?" One twin frowned.

"It's a shame. They're still so young, so innocent." The other sighed.

"Well what are you planning?" Draco asked.

"I'm afraid that's confidential, my dear Draco." Fred answered. (Sirius decided to just call one Fred and one George at random until he figured out which was which, it was easier that way)

"We can all hang out after lunch." George chimed in, "Alright with you Lee?"

"Sounds good. See you firsties later." Lee smirked. The three grabbed one last piece of toast and ran off.


	13. Flying

Harry was excited. A notice had been posted saying that flying lessons would start on Thursday, and Gryffindor would have them with Slytherin. As the day grew closer the excitement was replaced with nervousness. Wednesday night Harry stayed awake talking to Sirius.

"What if I make a complete fool of myself? Ron and Draco will both have that class with me, what if I can't do it? They'll hate me. I'm supposed to be this powerful wizard, if I can't even fly-"

Sirius huffed. If they didn't want to be friends with Harry because of something like that, they didn't deserve to be his friends in the first place. Besides, he'd be fantastic. James had been amazing on a broom and Lily hadn't been too bad herself. Sirius had the utmost confidence in Harry.

Harry sighed and hugged him, "I know, I'm probably getting worried over nothing. I just can't help it. I've never had friends before. Besides you, of course, I don't want to lose them. And if Ron starts hating me then he'll talk to Fred and George and they'll start hating me and then I'll be alone again."

Sirius growled quietly. He would never let Harry be alone.

"I know, I know. You won't leave. But it's nice to have people you can talk to without being looked at with pity. I hate being pitied."

Sirius licked his cheek. Harry giggled.

"Come on, Shadow. Let's get some sleep, I do have classes besides flying tomorrow."

\--------------line break------------

Harry was very fidgety that day. Ron tried to calm him down by assuring him that flying was easy. He'd even tried out one of his brother's old brooms before. It didn't help. In fact it made Harry more nervous. 

The bushy haired girl from the train found him in the corridor just before they were supposed to go out to the Quidditch pitch. Sirius tried to remember her name. Had she told them? He knew her name had been called during the sorting ceremony but he'd only really paid attention when Harry was called up. 

"Are you alright?" she asked. 

Harry froze, fingers in Sirius's fur. 

"It's alright, I won't hurt you. I just want to make sure you're okay." 

Harry swallowed and nodded. 

"We should head to class. Don't want to be late." she smiled. Harry nodded again and they started walking. "I'm Hermione Granger. You're Harry Potter, right?" 

Another nod. 

"I've read all about you. It's fascinating, though you probably find it overwhelming. You grew up with Muggles right? I can't even imagine, finding out you were a wizard and famous all in one go? Or did they tell you about it before you got here?" 

Harry frowned and shook his head. 

"I'm a Muggleborn so it was quite the surprise when we got my letter. A nice one, of course. Still, there's so much I don't know. I feel like I'm starting years behind everyone else and now I have to catch up, don't you?" 

Sirius was suddenly reminded of Lily. She'd complained about much the same thing before. He remembered her deciding to speak to Dumbledore and the Board of Governors after the war, she'd wanted to have them offer a couple extra classes about wizarding culture for the Muggleborns. Sirius felt a pang of grief. She'd never get to do that now. He decided to do it for her. As soon as he found a way to clear his name. 

Hermione continued to chatter until they got to the pitch. Harry smiled at her before going to stand in between Ron and Draco. Sirius had to sit a little ways away during this class, which made him nervous. 

Sirius watched with a bit of pride when Harry was one of the first students to summon his broom. They didn't actually get to flying that day. Neville Longbottom pushed into the air before anyone else. His broom went a little haywire and he ended up falling off and breaking his wrist. It might have been worse, but luckily he had something to break his fall. Unluckily, that thing was Sirius. Madam Hooch took Neville up to see Madam Pomfrey while Harry rushed to his side. 

"Shadow, are you okay?" Harry started looking him over worriedly. 

He would have some serious bruises and one of his back legs was sprained, but other than that he was okay. He couldn't stop the whine of pain from escaping him when Harry touched the injured leg. 

"Should we take him up to the hospital wing too?" Draco asked, frowning. 

Sirius's eyes widened in horror. He couldn't go to the hospital wing! Madam Pomfrey would realize that he was an Animagus, then he'd be forced to show who he really was and thrown back into Azkaban. He couldn't do that. He couldn't abandon Harry again. He'd show himself, later, when Harry was older and could handle his anxiety better. 

Sirius jumped to his feet, careful not to put too much of his weight on his injured leg. His body ached, being landed on would do that, but he was determined to show Harry that he was okay. 

"I don't think he needs to go to the hospital wing. He seems okay, mostly, he probably just needs to rest, right boy?" Harry scratched his ears. Sirius wagged his tail. 

They could hear some of the Slytherins snickering. Harry frowned and he, Ron, and Draco walked closer. 

"If the fat idiot had given this a squeeze maybe he'd have remembered how to fly." One of them was holding Neville's Rememberall. He'd gotten it from his grandmother just that morning. 

"Give that to me." Harry said, holding a hand out. Sirius felt another flash of pride. 

"So the mute can speak!" The apparent leader of the group was sneering. "Keep your nose out of it and maybe I won't break it." 

Draco stepped forward, "Leave him alone, Zabini, and hand it over or I'll hex you." 

Zabini scowled, "Defending Gryffindors, Malfoy? Never thought I'd see that." 

"I-I said, give th-that to me." Harry made a grab for the ball. 

Zabini held it out of reach, "Or what? You'll have a mental breakdown, like in Potions last Friday?" 

Harry blushed. 

"Or he'll sick Shadow on you, after I've finished with you." Ron answered. Sirius growled to make the threat more clear. 

Zabini swallowed and handed Harry the ball. He glared at Draco once more, "You're a traitor to our House, Malfoy." 

Draco sneered at him, "No, I'm defending my friends against a bully. Which Houses we're in have nothing to do with it." 

Sirius never got to find out what would've happened next as that was when Madam Hooch came back. He was really proud of Harry for standing up to him like that. He was also happy that Draco and Ron turned out to be the kind of friends he'd hoped Harry would have. Draco and Ron seemed to be getting along throughout the rest of the lesson. Before today they'd been civil, but shot glares at each other when Harry wasn't looking. Now, they appeared to be on the way to actually being friends. If Sirius had been in his human form, he'd be grinning. It looked like the next generation of Marauders was finally forming.


	14. New Friends and Trolls

It was the morning of Halloween and Harry had Charms. In the two months since Harry had come to Hogwarts, he'd been doing a lot better. He still had problems talking to people outside of his circle of friends, but he didn't get nearly as many panic attacks and hadn't had a nightmare in over two weeks. While Sirius was happy with his progress he didn't think that Professor Flitwick's idea for this class had been a good one. The class was partnered up and were supposed to practice the levitation charm they'd been learning. The bad part of this plan was that Flitwick partnered Harry with Seamus Finnigan instead of Ron. Sirius figured this was some misguided attempt of his to "help" Harry socialize. Since Harry shared a dorm with him, it wasn't as bad as it would have been if he'd been partnered with one of the girls or someone from another house.

The two boys weren't having much luck getting the feather in the air. Sirius thought tat part of their problem was that Harry was mumbling the spell and Seamus was leaving off the last syllable in one of the words. Seamus did have a lot of luck in lighting the feather on fire. He had started poking the feather in frustration and it had burst into flames. Sirius had flinched back, startled, as the two boys tried to put it out. 

Ron was sitting a table away with his partner, Hermione Granger. He didn't seem to be having much luck either.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted. Sirius snorted, no wonder he wasn't getting it. He kept flapping his arms around like a windmill. He couldn't remember being this bad when he'd first started, though he was pretty sure Peter had been.

"You're saying it wrong," Hermione snapped, "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long." Once again, Sirius was reminded of Lily. 

"You do it then, if you're so clever." Ron snarled. Sirius sighed, he knew Ron was frustrated, but she was only trying to help him.

Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The feather floated up and hovered about four feet over their heads. Flitwick saw and called everyone's attention to it, praising Hermione for being able to manage it.

Ron was in a horrible mood by the end of class, which irritated Sirius. Just because he'd been shown up in class did not give him the right to be angry with the person who'd been capable of it. After all, she had tried to correct him and he'd gotten snippy. The dog shook his head and reminded himself that they were only children. Merlin knew he and the other Marauders hadn't exactly been saints when they were in school.

"It's no wonder no one can stand her," he said to Harry, "she's a nightmare, honestly."

The girl in question pushed past the boys, Sirius saw the tears on her cheeks as she hurried away.

"I think she heard you." Harry said softly.

"So?" Ron looked a little uncomfortable. "She must've noticed she's got no friends."

Harry's feisty side came out then. "That doesn't mean you should point it out! Just because someone has issues expressing themselves properly, or connecting to people doesn't mean they're a bad person!"

Ron frowned, "Harry, I didn't mean it like that."

"She's helped me before, Ron, and I don't like it when you say stuff like that. Will you apologize to her next class?"

Ron looked down, "Yeah alright."

"Thank you."

Hermione didn't turn up for their next class. In fact they didn't see her all afternoon. After talking to Draco and the twins they decided that if she didn't show up by the end of dinner, they'd go find her. Harry had been worried about not having enough time to find her before curfew, but the twins assured him that it wouldn't take that long. It made Sirius wonder. The Marauder's Map had been confiscated before they'd left Hogwarts, not that the caretaker had known what it really was. Had the twins somehow gotten a hold of it? That brought up a whole new set of worries. He would show up on the map as Sirius Black. If the twins had it and saw him...

He was always with Harry, if they brought it up to him, he would know. Then he could have a little talk with them.

On their way to the Halloween feast, they heard a couple of the girls Hermione shared a dorm with say that Hermione was crying in the girls' bathroom and wanted to be left alone. Harry gave Ron a disapproving frown that Lily would have been proud of. Ron looked at his shoes guiltily.

Sirius looked around as they entered the Great Hall. The decorations were just as he remembered. He remembered enchanting a few of the bats to land in people's food and hair one year. Naturally their main target had been Snivellus, but they'd gotten a few other people so it wasn't obvious. Lily had been furious with them, even though she and Snape hadn't been friends anymore when they played that particular prank.

Harry had just given Sirius his food and started dishing some up for himself when Professor Quirrell ran in. Everyone stared as he reached Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table, and gasped, "Troll- in the dungeons- thought you ought to know." Then he fainted.

Everyone started freaking out. Harry reached down and pulled Sirius closer to him as Dumbledore fired several firecrackers from the end of his wand to bring silence.

"Prefects lead your Houses back to your dormitories immediately!"

Harry frowned and looked at the twins, "Aren't the Slytherin dormitories in the dungeons?" They nodded. "Will Draco be okay? Can we bring him to our dorms instead?"

"I don't think so." Fred sighed (Sirius had realized that there was a slight difference in their scents, he'd been overjoyed to have a way to tell them apart).

"Besides, Slytherins are sneaky, I'm sure they have some secret way to get in safely." George added.

Harry was still frowning as they climbed the stairs, "How could a troll even get in?"

"Someone's idea of a prank, no doubt." Ron eyed his brothers.

"Don't look at us!" they said.

Harry grabbed Ron's arm suddenly, "Wait- Hermione. She doesn't know. We have to go help her."

Ron bit his lip. "Alright, but Percy'd better not see us."

"We'll come with you." The twins said.

Harry smiled gratefully at them. They followed a group of Hufflepuffs in the other direction for a bit before ducking into a side corridor. They hid behind a large stone griffin when they heard footsteps behind then. Sirius was confused, the scent belonged to Snape, but what was he doing here? Shouldn't he be with the other teachers? 

He was only vaguely aware of Harry asking the same thing when he realized something. Snape was headed for the third floor. Whatever Dumbledore had hiding there Snape was either protecting it from someone else, or going to steal it for himself.

A foul stench brought him back to what they were supposed to be doing. He could hear a low grunting and giant, shuffling footfalls. He turned to look and barked in warning while the boys were stilling looking after Snape.

"That's the troll, but I thought Professor Quirrell said it was in the dungeons." George frowned.

"Maybe it moves faster than we thought it would?" Fred suggested.

Sirius blinked. Trolls didn't really move fast, and this one was on the wrong floor. Who had said that it would be in the dungeon? Quirrell. He'd known there was something off about him! The troll was a distraction. And now Snape was running off to try and be a hero. Sirius didn't realize he was growling until Harry shushed him.

"There's a key in the lock." Harry whispered as the troll walked into a room. "We could lock it in."

"Just one problem with your brilliant plan, Harry." Fred answered.

"That's the girls' bathroom." George finished.

A high, petrified scream rang out.

"Come on!" Harry ran towards the door with Sirius on his heels. The Weasleys followed a second later.

Hermione Granger was shrinking against the opposite wall, looking like she was going to faint. The troll was advancing on her.

Harry dropped Sirius's leash, grabbed a piece of broken sink and threw it at the troll. It stopped and seemed to be trying to decide if it should turn and attack or keep going after Hermione. Sirius shot forward and sank his teeth into the troll's leg. It tasted awful. He let go and ran around it as the boys threw things at it to keep it distracted. Harry was trying to get Hermione to move, but it wasn't working very well.

The troll started towards Ron, raising its club. Fred and George tried to cast a stunning spell and body bind hex on it. Neither affected it much. Sirius rushed forward again and bit its other leg, tearing a chunk out when he pulled away. The troll's club slammed him into the wall.

"Shadow!" Harry's voice sounded very faint and far away. He tried to shake the hit off and protect the kids, but everything was spinning and even breathing too deeply hurt. Sirius cursed himself and tried to get up again. If he could just stand, then he could change into his human form and take care of this thing in a couple minutes. Sure, his secret would be out, but the kids would be safe. Sirius fell back down and passed out.

\--------------line break------------

When he woke up, he was in the hospital wing. Harry was sitting next to him looking very worried.

"Shadow? Are you awake boy?"

Sirius lifted his head a little and licked Harry's hand. Harry sobbed and threw his arms around him.

"Shadow, I was so worried! I thought I was gonna lose you!"

Sirius nosed his hair and huffed, like he usually did when Harry was being silly. Like Sirius was ever going to leave him alone again. Not as long as he had a choice in the matter. 

Harry let out a small laugh. "You've been asleep for a whole day." He sat up a little straighter, "I got through a whole class on my own. Well, Ron and Hermione helped, but still! After that, I was just so worried about you, and Snape called on me to answer a question and I just- I couldn't! They probably hate me now. I can't even get through a day of classes without my dog."

Sirius licked his cheek.

"Now, I'm making this all about me when you're the one who got hurt. I'm so sorry, Shadow."

Sirius whined and licked him again.

"McGonagall awarded us all points for what happened with the troll. Well, except Hermione, she got some taken away, but we got enough that it doesn't really matter. Hermione's nice. I think she's my friend now. I mean, if she still wants to be, after today. Draco's fine too. A little mad that we were put in danger without him there, but he's happy that we're okay. They all came up to see you during lunch. They said they'd come by during dinner too. That's less than an hour away. Madame Pomfrey said that some of your ribs were broken and you had a concussion. She fixed you up though. You'll probably be able to leave soon." 

Harry pet him all through his little speech, which made Sirius feel much better. He was worried though. Had Madame Pomfrey noticed that he was an Animagus? What if she told someone? He couldn't go back to Azkaban. He couldn't leave Harry alone. He had to know if she knew about him!

Sirius was released the next morning, and since no one had come to take him away, he figured his secret was safe enough and relaxed. Now, things could go back to normal and he could start trying to figure out what Dumbledore was hiding in the castle and why Quirrell wanted it so badly.


	15. Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since Harry isn't on the Quidditch team in this story I'm skipping ahead to Christmas.

It was mid-December now and snow covered everything. Sirius loved it. Everything looked pure and clean under the cover of snow, it was beautiful. One morning the twins, Ron, Hermione, and Draco went with Harry and Sirius on a walk. Naturally, a snowball fight started up pretty quickly. Hermione tried to stay out of it, but the twins were quick to drag her in. Sirius jumped around trying to catch as much of the snow as he could. The kids found it hilarious, which had been the whole point of him doing it in the first place. They went inside cold, but laughing.

Everyone was excited for the holidays. There were Christmas decorations hanging everywhere. The only place that didn't seem at all festive was the Potions classroom. It was freezing in there and everyone huddled as close to their cauldrons as possible. Sirius thought Snape did it out of spite. He was sure the teacher had put up warming charms for them when he was still in school.

"Are you going home for Christmas, Harry?" Draco asked. He and Harry were in the library together. Hermione was looking for a book and Ron was in the Owlery, writing to his parents.

"No. If I had my way, I wouldn't go back there when summer comes around. I'm certainly not going back when I have the option not to." Harry answered firmly.

Draco frowned, "Is it really that bad?"

"Kind of. They ignored me for the last month or so before I came here, but before that..." he trailed off, "Believe me, my aunt and uncle would be very happy if I never went back."

The other boy smiled suddenly, "Maybe you could come stay with me for the summer. Or, at least part of it since I don't think the others would be too pleased if I stole you away the whole time."

Harry looked at him hopefully, "Really? What about your parents?"

"Mother won't mind. I've talked about you in letters and she's just happy I made some new friends. Father might take a bit more convincing, but I could do it over the break. What do you think?"

Harry hugged him. "Draco, you're brilliant. Thank you."

The twins ran in a few minutes later. "We have a clue."

Hermione had rejoined them at the table with a massive book, "A clue about what?"

"What's in the forbidden corridor." Fred answered.

"You know, the one Snape went off to visit on Halloween?" George added.

"What's the clue?" Harry asked. Sirius had perked up as well.

"Nicholas Flamel." they said in unison.

"Great. Who is he?" Draco asked.

"We don't know." George admitted.

"And why should we even try to figure out what's there?" Hermione frowned.

"Because Snape was trying to get it."

"Didn't you see how much he limped after Halloween? Besides we may have accidentally looked through the door a while back."

"A three headed dog is guarding whatever it is, and it's not half as friendly as Shadow is." The twins told them.

"So, now all we have to do is find out about Nicholas Flamel and we can find out what's on the third floor." Harry said.

"Hold on. I know you Gryffindors love rushing into danger and all that, but doesn't this seem a bit much?" Draco scowled, "The teachers probably have loads of enchantments and the like around whatever it is. Why should we risk our necks just to figure it out?"

"Ah come on, Dray." George wrapped an arm around his shoulders, "Where's your sense of adventure?"

Fred slipped into his other side, "It's not like we're going after it. We just want to know what it is."

"Won't even have to open the door."

Draco looked over at Harry, who nodded encouragingly, "Fine! I'll help."

\--------------line break---------------

Sirius knew that this wouldn't end well. After they had told Ron about what the twins found, the six kids spent all their free time in the library trying to find something on Nicholas Flamel. They didn't have much luck. Draco and Hermione went home for the holidays a week after their search started. Draco had assured them that he would keep looking in his family's personal library for anything. Harry and the Weasleys promised to keep looking in the school library.

Sirius was grateful when the holidays started. Since the boys had the dormitory to themselves they ended up having too much fun to spend much time in the library. Fred and George enlisted Harry and Ron's help in planning pranks for when everyone got back and Ron taught Harry how to play wizard's chess. He wasn't all that good, but Sirius figured that was to be expected seeing as how he'd just started learning.

On Christmas Eve Harry had his first nightmare in a month. It was a bad one too. Sirius poked his head out of the curtains to be sure Ron was still asleep before switching to his human form. He put a silencing spell on the curtains and pulled Harry close. Sirius wasn't really afraid of being caught. He always did this when Harry's nightmares got bad. He ran his fingers through the boy's hair and sang part of a lullaby he remembered Lily singing to Harry as a baby. Once Harry had calmed down Sirius shifted back into his dog form. Harry woke up a second later and cuddled with him until he fell back to sleep.

When Harry woke the next morning he kissed the top of Sirius's head, "Merry Christmas, Shadow."

Sirius licked his cheek and they both got up. A stack of presents sat at the end of Harry's bed. It wasn't as large as the pile by Ron's bed but Harry was still stunned to see it.

Harry and Ron decided to open their presents before meeting the twins and going to breakfast. Harry got a wooden flute from Hagrid, some homemade fudge and a green sweater from Molly Weasley, some Chocolate Frogs from Hermione, a fifty pence piece from the Dursleys, and a book called "Curses and Countercurses" from Draco. There was one gift that didn't have a name attached. Sirius could hardly believe it when Harry opened it to reveal James's old invisibility cloak.

"You know Fred and George are going to be so jealous you've got one of those. They're really rare." Ron said in a hushed voice.

Sirius saw a note that had fallen out of it. He picked it up and offered it to Harry. He read it out loud, "Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well."

"Blimey." Ron breathed.

Fred and George burst in. "Merry Christmas!" 

Harry grinned at them and showed them what he'd gotten.

"Bloody hell, Harry. Do you know what we could do with one of those?" George sighed.

"The pranks we could pull." Fred agreed. "Oh, well. We have our own ways."

Sirius really liked these kids.

Percy Weasley poked his head in a couple minutes later with a disapproving frown. Sirius wanted to roll his eyes. Even Lily hadn't looked so annoyed on Christmas. Of course, part of that might have been the truce she had with the Marauders for that day. They didn't pull pranks, she didn't yell at them. "What's all the noise about?"

Sirius couldn't keep himself from rolling his eyes this time.

"Not wearing your sweater, Percy?" Fred said innocently.

"Look Freddie, it's even got a 'P' on it."

"P for prefect!" They both grinned and pounced on him.

Percy started yelling in protest as the twins forced him into his Christmas sweater. "Come on, Percy. They're so warm and cozy."

"Yeah. Look even Harry's wearing one!"

They kept his arms pinned and marched him downstairs for breakfast, Harry and Ron laughing as they followed.

\----------------line break---------------

Christmas was amazing. There was tons of good food, magic Christmas crackers, a snowball fight, and new games to play. Ron and Harry played wizard chess with the new set Harry got from one of the Christmas crackers and the twins taught him to play Exploding Snap. By the time they went to bed Sirius hoped Harry would be tired enough to keep an nightmares away.

Ron had been asleep for the better part of an hour when Harry got up. He quietly snapped Sirius's leash on, but left the jacket off. He held up James's old cloak with a mischievous smile. "Time to go exploring, Shadow. Stay close so we're both under the cloak, okay?"

The two crept out as quietly as possible and hurried down the corridor. "We'll check for books about Flamel in the Restricted section, then see if we can find one of those secret passages I heard the twins talking about." Harry whispered.

Sirius wanted to show him the shortcut to the library, but decided it would be better to "find" it on the way back. He hoped Lily and James could see their son. Mostly James actually. Lily would be horrified that they were sneaking around at night. He remembered her insisting to James that their kids should have their first year at Hogwarts to adjust to the school and make sure they could handle the work. Then they could start pranking in their second year. As long as it didn't hurt anyone, of course.

Sirius shook his head to clear the memories. They had reached the library and Sirius needed to help look for promising books.

Harry looked nervous as they walked around the Restricted section. Sirius couldn't blame him. It almost sounded like the books were whispering.

Harry grabbed a heavy looking book and flipped it open. A bloodcurdling scream rang out. Harry slammed it shut and shoved it back into place. The screaming didn't stop.

"Let's go." Harry whispered. They rushed out, Harry dropped the lamp they'd been using in the rush to leave. Sirius winced. They really needed to work on his escape skills. Flich stood in the doorway, staring through them with arms outstretched. It was almost laughable how easy it was to slip past him. Sirius was sure he was getting old.

Harry ran blindly, keeping hold of the cloak and Sirius's leash. They ended up by a suit of armor near some unused classrooms. Sirius looked around, trying to remember if there were any secret passages nearby that would lead them back to the Tower.

"You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wandering around at night, and somebody's been in the library-- Restricted Section."

Harry paled. Sirius didn't wait around to hear the response, he could smell that it was Snape and shoved Harry towards the partially open door of one of the classrooms. They slipped through quickly. Sirius listened as Snape and Flich walked past the door.

"Woah." Harry breathed. Sirius spun around. A large, magnificent mirror stood in the center of the room. An inscription was carved around the top. Sirius stepped closer, slipping out from under the cloak.

His reflection was his human form. Remus, Lily, James, and Peter stood around him, smiling and laughing. His reflection looked healthy, like he'd never been to Azkaban, and Peter, Peter wasn't a traitor. He was the same Peter Sirius loved like a brother. Lily had her arms around Harry's shoulders. A Harry who hadn't been neglected, who'd been loved his whole life. Behind them Sirius could see his little brother, Regulus. The brother he'd wanted so badly to save was standing between James's parents. He'd never turned to the Dark. He'd followed in Sirius's footsteps and been "adopted" by James's parents. His family. The only people he wanted to be in his family. Safe, together, happy. Sirius felt like crying.

"Mum? Dad?" Harry whispered. Sirius whined. He was sure that he'd be sobbing if he was human right now. Could Harry see this too?

"Shadow do you see?" Harry grinned down at him. "It's my family! Look there's Mum and Dad. And they're probably aunts and uncles, and look! Grandparents!" Harry pointed to the people Sirius was seeing. But now he knew that Harry wasn't looking at the same family he was. He'd pointed out Lily and James, but then he'd started pointing at places where there were no people or they were the wrong gender. He'd called Reg an aunt after all. Harry continued chattering away contemplating how different people he saw were related to him. His thoughts turned sad after a while and he sat on the ground beside Sirius, stroking his fur and wondering aloud how things would have turned out if Harry had been raised by this family.

He fell silent after a while and the two of them simply sat and stared at their reflections and the families surrounding them. Hours later, they left and Sirius steered Harry towards one of the secret passages so they could return to bed faster. He felt drained and wanted nothing more than sleep and to forget how badly he'd failed his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas, Tiger.


	16. Discovery

The next morning Harry told Ron and the twins about the mirror they'd found. The boys decided that they would go back tonight so they could all see Harry's family. Sirius didn't think it worked like that. His theory was that the mirror showed the people you thought of as family. Harry had only known the Dursleys, so the mirror had shown him James's side of the family. Sirius hated most of his biological family, so he'd seen the people he chose to love instead. Which meant that the Weasley's would see their family, not the one Harry saw.

That night the boys all huddled under the cloak and went back to the room with the mirror. It was cramped and the boys frequently stepped on his paws and each other, but they made it. Sirius kept thinking of his days in school. Under this cloak with James, Remus, and Peter. It had been just as cramped in later years. They had taken the same secret passages that Fred and George showed Harry and Ron. It was hard to push the memories away.

Harry pulled the cloak off once they were inside the room and stepped in front of the mirror. "Look, there's my parents and that's-"

"Harry, mate, all I can see is you." George frowned.

"Same here." Fred chimed in. Ron nodded.

Harry grabbed George's arm and pulled him in front of the mirror, "You need to look in properly. Can you see them now?"

"No. I see a joke shop. Mine and Fred's, going by the same. Looks good. You see it Freddie?"

Fred stepped up beside his brother and grinned. "Think we can make it happen?"

"Absolutely."

"Let me see!" Ron jumped forward. His brothers moved.

"Well? What do you see?" Fred asked.

"I'm- I'm older. I'm head boy!"

"You're what?" George laughed.

"Are we going to have to deal with another Percy?" Fred snorted.

Ron seemed to enamored with the mirror to pay them much attention. "I'm holding the Quidditch cup and the house cup. Bloody hell! I'm Quidditch captain too!" Ron turned to them excitedly, "Do you think this mirror shows the future?"

"That seems pretty far fetched. Especially since Harry saw his family, and they're dead." Fred pointed out.

"You alright, Harry? You haven't said anything since I got in front of the mirror." George said.

Harry sat on the floor and put an arm around Sirius, "I just don't understand."

Sirius was confused too. He knew that they wouldn't see Harry's family, but they hadn't seen their family either. Maybe the mirror wasn't meant to show families then. When he'd looked in the mirror Peter and Regulus hadn't gone to Voldemort's side. It was how he'd wanted them to be, not how they were. Harry had been neglected and unloved his whole life. He wanted a family who would love him, and that's what the mirror had showed. So, the mirror didn't show families, it showed what you wanted in life. Sirius was rather pleased with himself for figuring it out.

Sirius ushered them out of the room and back towards the Gryffindor common room when they started fighting about who got to stand in front of the mirror next. They would attract Filch if they kept on like that. Truth be told he was a little disappointed in the twins for letting themselves get carried away like that. They were pranksters and should therefore know better.

Harry went back to the mirror the next night and Sirius started to get worried. Harry had barely eaten and wasn't interested in doing anything with his friends. All he could think about was the mirror. Sirius understood him wanting to see his family, but he wasn't drawn to the mirror like Harry was. Seeing the people he'd failed so badly just made him want to cry.

Sirius noticed Dumbledore sitting in the corner of the room. Harry was too focused on the mirror to see.

"Back again, Harry?"

The boy jumped and turned to look at the Headmaster. His face paled. "I'm s-sorry. I j-just-"

"It's quite alright." Dumbledore assured him, "The Mirror of Erised can be rather compelling. "

Harry gripped Sirius's fur. He probably thought he was in trouble, despite Dumbledore's smile.

"Have you realized what it does?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry shook his head.

"Let me give you a hint. The happiest man on earth would be able to use the Mirror of Erised as a normal mirror. He would see himself exactly as he is."

"It-" Harry swallowed nervously and held Sirius tighter, "It shows what we want?"

"Yes and no."

-Thanks for the cryptic answers, Dumbledore. They're so helpful.- Sirius thought.

"The Mirror shows nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desires of our hearts. The Mirror gives neither knowledge, nor truth. Men have wasted away in front of it, or gone mad, not knowing if what they saw was real of even possible."

Sirius growled softly. Did telling Harry that he might go crazy from looking at the mirror help anything? It was just scaring him.

"The Mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow, Harry, and I ask you not to go looking for it again. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live. Now, why don't you head back to bed?"

Harry nodded quickly, threw his cloak back on and left.

\--------------line break-----------------

The rest of the winter holidays were pretty uneventful. The invisibility cloak stayed at the bottom of Harry's trunk, and they didn't have anymore nighttime adventures. Harry did get more nightmares the week or so after the last time he'd gone to the Mirror, which worried Sirius, but they stopped just before the term started.

Draco complained about missing another adventure and Hermione scolded him for breaking the rules. They were both disappointed that Harry hadn't found anything on Flamel. Draco had looked threw his library over the break, but he hadn't found anything either.

"I think there might have been something, but my parents kept me rather busy over the holidays. Mother caught me looking near some of the Darker books we have the day before Christmas Eve. She wouldn't let me look around without her or Father after that." Draco sighed.

Draco had been excited to tell Harry that his parents were alright with him coming to stay with them for part of the summer. He then got into an argument with the Weasleys about who Harry would stay with longer. Hermione had broken it up when Harry's breathing picked up.

A few days later Fred and George limped into the common room, complaining. Apparently the Quidditch captain, Oliver Wood, had been particularly brutal with training the team today. James had been the same way when a big game was coming up. Peter and Remus had gotten annoyed quickly since all he would talk about was the upcoming game. Sirius had flopped around and whined a lot. The first time it had happened he'd actually convinced Remus to write the introduction to a couple of his essays. After that he'd learned better.

Sirius snapped back to the present when Neville Longbottom hopped into the common room. He'd been hit with a Leg-Locker Curse. Hermione rushed over and performed the counter before leading him over to sit with them.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Zabini." Neville whimpered, "I met him outside the library. He said he'd been looking for someone to practice on."

"Go to Professor McGonagall! Report him!" Hermione urged.

Neville shook his head and mumbled, "I don't want more trouble."

Harry handed him a Chocolate Frog and flashed a small smile. Neville returned it and mumbled his thanks. "Want the card? You collect them, don't you?"

Harry blushed and looked away.

"Thanks, Neville." Fred said.

"I'm sure he'd appreciate that." George finished.

Neville handed him the card and walked away.

Harry looked excited and showed them which card it was.

"Dumbledore? Don't you already have him?" Ron frowned.

Harry rolled him eyes and read, "'Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindlewald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicholas Flamel.' We've found him!"

Hermione jumped to her feet and ran off. The twins hugged him from either side.

"Well done, Harry!"

"Never would've thought to look on one of those!."

Ron snorted, "Draco's gonna be furious you found it without him here."

Harry paled.

"He'll understand." George said quickly.

"Yeah, we can tell him everything tomorrow." Fred agreed, smacking Ron lightly.

Ron scowled at Fred.

Hermione came back down with a rather large book. "I never thought to look here! I checked it out weeks ago for a bit of light reading."

"Light?" Ron repeated incredulously.

Sirius shook his head in amusement. She was definitely Lily reincarnated. There was no other explanation.

Hermione flipped through the book for a couple minutes, scanning the pages for something specific. Finally she looked up with a grin, "I knew it!"

"What did you know, Hermione." George asked.

"Yeah, please, share with the class." Fred added. Harry giggled.

"Nicholas Flamel is the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone!" Hermione read, excited.

Sirius's eyes widened. What was Dumbledore thinking having that here? There were kids here. He didn't care how many enchantments protected the thing, a powerful Dark wizard could still come after it. If they couldn't get to it they might take their frustration out on the kids. Seriously, what was going through the old ma's head!

Sirius didn't tune back into what the kids were talking about until Harry announced that he was going to bed. That night he was the one with nightmares. Images of Death Eaters killing Harry, his friends, and all the other first years danced in his mind. It was nearing dawn when he stopped trying to sleep. He knew Harry and his friends would probably get into trouble before the year was out. Especially since Quirrell was going to try to take the stone. He just needed to think of a way to stop Quirrell without the kids getting involved. He sighed. It was going to be a long year.


	17. Hagrid's Dragon

The next few weeks were stressful. The days were spent watching the kids study, and nights were devoted to trying to figure out how to stop Quirrell. Hermione was freaking out because exams were in a few weeks. She pestered Harry, Ron, and even Draco into studying with her and snapped at the twins when they tried to get her to slow down. Sirius was actually happy they spent so much time studying, it let him catch up on his sleep. He was having no luck with Quirrell and Snape was in as foul a mood as ever. It was aggravating to say the least.

Sirius was woken from his nap under the table by Hagrid shushing the kids.

"Listen-- come an' see me later. I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don' go rabbitin' about it in here, students aren' s'pposed ter know." Hagrid said.

Sirius frowned and slipped around behind Hagrid. He was hiding an egg behind his back. What was he doing with an egg? Sirius moved closer, sniffing. He was pretty sure it was a dragon egg. He knew Hagrid always wanted one.

He returned to Harry's side as Hagrid left.

"I wonder what he's hiding." Draco said.

Ron jumped up and went to see what books Hagrid had been looking at. Sirius rested his head on Harry's lap and tried not to fall asleep again.

"Harry, is everything alright with Shadow?" Hermione asked, "He's been sleeping a lot lately."

"I don't know." Harry sighed, "I think he might be sick. Draco, do you know of any vets I can take him to?"

Draco thought for a bit, "I know there's a village nearby. There might be one there. Only third years and older are really allowed to go, so that might be a problem. You should ask the twins."

Harry nodded.

"Dragons." Ron announced as he rejoined them.

"What about them?" Hermione frowned.

"That's what Hagrid was looking at. Books about dragons."

"Hagrid did mention that he's always wanted a dragon." Harry said.

"That's illegal." Draco said. "You can't breed dragons. It's too hard to hide from Muggles."

"And you can't tame them." Ron agreed, "You should see the burns Charlie's gotten."

"Well, I suppose we'll have to ask Hagrid about it when we see him, won't we?" Hermione said, then she turned back to her books.

\------------line break---------------------

Sirius tried to hide how tired he was, but it wasn't working out so well. He was following Harry and his friends, minus the twins, to Hagrid's hut when he stumbled. Harry rushed to his side and started fussing over him.

"Hagrid's got a dog! Maybe he'll know what's wrong. I'm sorry Shadow. I-"

Draco cut him off, "Harry, we have been spending all our free time in the library. He probably just needs more exercise or something. I'm sure it's nothing."

Harry nodded and whispered another apology to Sirius. "I'll play with you more tomorrow, okay? Promise."

Sirius felt really guilty. It was his fault he was so tired and now Harry was worrying. He berated himself for being so stupid as they reached Hagrid's. He'd have to be more careful in the future. For Harry's sake.

It was blazing hot inside the hut, which confirmed Sirius's theory about Hagrid getting a dragon. Why else would he be so jumpy and keep his hut so hot?

"So-- yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?" Hagrid said.

"Yes." Harry answered, "We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Sorcerer's Stone apart from Fluffy."

Sirius perked up at that. If he knew what else was guarding the thing, it could help him figure out what to do about Quirrell.

"O' course I can't." Sirius deflated, so much for that. "Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could."

Sirius tuned Hagrid out, he wouldn't be of much help to Sirius at the moment anyway, and started sniffing around the hut. Harry pulled him back to his side a couple minutes later.

"Hagrid, how much do you know about dogs?" Harry asked. He started scratching behind Sirius's ear.

"Well, I wouldn' say I was an expert, bu' I know a fair bit."

"I think something's wrong with Shadow. Can you take a look at him?"

Sirius stiffened.

Hagrid frowned, "Wha' makes yeh think he's sick?"

"He's been sleeping for most of the day for the past few weeks, and he hasn't been eating as much. Did I do something wrong? Draco thinks it's because I haven't been playing with him as much lately."

Draco cut in, "That wouldn't be your fault, Harry. *You're* not the one that keeps dragging us to the library every spare minute."

Hermione scowled at him, "We need to study. Besides, it's not like I thought it would make Shadow ill!"

"Alrigh', alrigh', calm down now." Hagrid said, "It migh' have nothin' to do with yer studyin'. Sometimes, dogs get sick. It happens. Let 'im sleep and try givin' 'im beef broth to eat. Yeh should try to get 'im more exercise, but if he doesn' get better, there's a vet in Hogsmead yeh can take 'im to."

"Thanks, Hagrid." Harry hugged him.

\--------------line break-----------------

The four kids were sitting outside by the lake, throwing a ball around for Sirius. The twins were at Quidditch practice, but promised to stop by later. Hermione had insisted on bringing some of their textbooks out with them so they could still study.

"I still can't believe he's going to try and raise a dragon here!" Draco was saying, "He lives in a wooden hut, for Merlin's sake!"

"You're not going to tell on him, are you?" Ron asked.

Draco sighed, "Not yet. But if it hurts anyone I most certainly will."

Hermione looked up from her Potions book. "I'm tempted to go tell someone now. Hagrid's nice and all, but this is horribly irresponsible. There's no way something won't go wrong."

"Oh, come on, Hermione." Ron said, "If it doesn't hurt anyone why shouldn't it stay? It's not like Muggles will see it, and Hagrid's is right next to the forest."

"So long as it doesn't light the forest on fire." Harry snorted, "I'm with Draco and Ron, Hermione. Please don't tell?"

Hermione made the mistake of looking at him. "Fine! I'll keep quiet so long as no one's hurt, now please, stop looking at me like that Harry. You look like a kicked puppy, it's not fair."

The boys laughed and turned their full attention to playing with Sirius.

\---------------line break----------------

One morning Hedwig at breakfast Hedwig brought a note from Hagrid. There were only two words on it: It's hatching.

Ron wanted to go straight to Hagrid's and skip Herbology, Hermione wasn't nearly as enthusiastic.

"We've got lessons! We'll get into trouble if we skip." She insisted.

"I agree with Hermione here." Draco said, Harry had waved him over when Hedwig brought the note, "Besides, if we skip class it will look suspicious. If someone finds out why we skipped, they'll find the dragon and Hagrid will get into trouble too."

"Fine, we'll go during morning break. Sound good, Harry?"

Harry smiled and nodded.

As soon as Herbology was over the three Gryffindors dropped their trowels and ran to Hagrid's hut. Draco came running from the castle a minute or so later. Hagrid was flushed with excitement as he greeted them.

"It's nearly out." He ushered them inside.

The egg was lying on the table with deep cracks running through it. Sirius lifted himself onto his back legs so that he could see properly. He could hear an odd clicking noise coming from the egg.

The kids drew chairs up to the table and watched. Sirius rested his front paws on Harry's legs to steady himself.

All at once there was a scraping noise and the egg split open. The baby dragon flopped onto the table. It was black, with orange eyes, spiny wings, and the stubs of horns. It sneezed and sparks flew out of its snout.

"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid murmured. Sirius wrinkled his nose. Beautiful is not the word he would've used to describe the baby dragon. Seeing it hatch had been cool and all, but it wasn't exactly beautiful.

"Hagrid, how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?" Hermione asked.

Hagrid was about to answer when the color suddenly drained from his face. "Someone was lookin' through the gap in the window-- it's a kid-- he's runnin' back to the school."

Draco bolted to the door and looked outside. "Zabini!" He hissed, "He must've followed me here."

Harry frowned, "Hagrid, maybe you shouldn't keep the dragon. If he tells someone-"

"I can't get rid of 'im, Harry. He's too little, he'd die."

"But-"

"Keep him until he gets a little bigger, then Ron can have his brother come take him to a reserve with others of his kind." Draco said, "I think I can keep Zabini quiet for a week or two."

Hagrid didn't look too happy about that plan, but agreed anyway.

After they got back to the castle, Ron sent a letter to his brother telling him about the dragon and their plan while Draco went back to the Slytherin common room to have a talk with Blaise Zabini.


	18. Detention

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of line breaks in this one. Beware.

It was a week before Ron's brother sent his answer to their letter. He told them to meet some of his friends at the top of the highest tower at midnight on Saturday.

"It shouldn't be too difficult. The invisibility cloak is big enough to hide Norbert and two of us." Harry said.

They sent Charlie a reply and spent the next few hours arguing about who should be the ones to take Norbert. In the end they decided it should be Harry, since it was his cloak, and Draco, who insisted that it was about time he got in on something exciting (Fred and George told him that Gryffindor was clearly rubbing off on him).

Sirius didn't really like this plan. Harry had asked Ron to watch him, which meant that he wouldn't be with Harry when the trade-off happened. He was worried. Harry didn't have much experience with this kind of thing and neither did Draco. They would probably need him.

\-------------------line break-----------------

The next night, Ron was furious. "That bloody dragon bit me!" His hand was wrapped in a bloody handkerchief, "It's horrible! I won't be able to hold a quill for a week. And Hagrid said it was just playing. He was singing it a lullaby when I left!"

Harry frowned, "Will you be alright? Should we take you to the hospital wing?"

Ron huffed, "I'll be fine. Probably. Besides, what would I tell her? A dog bit me? That would just get Shadow into trouble."

Harry grinned, "You could say it was a cat. Plenty of those around."

Ron cracked a smile, "Yeah. Best not risk it though. If it gets worse I'll go."

\-------------------line break-----------------

It got worse. The next day Ron's hand had swollen and by the afternoon it had turned green. It appeared that Norbert was poisonous.

At the end of the day Harry, Hermione, Draco, and the twins rushed up to the hospital wing to check on him. He was much paler than he should've been and Sirius was suddenly reminded of Remus. He'd turned that color once a month and stayed in a bed at the far end of the room until lunchtime. Sirius shook his head before the memories could make him zone out again.

"-he was threatening to tell her what really bit me. I did what Harry said and told her it was a cat, but I don't think she believes me." Ron was saying. Sirius assumed "he" was that Zabini kid.

"Don't worry, Ronniekins." Fred assured him.

"It'll all be over Saturday night." George agreed, "And we'll watch Shadow,"

"Since you're stuck here."

Ron sat bolt upright, "Oh no- I just remembered- Charlie's letter was in that book Zabini took. He'll know we're getting rid of Norbert!" Ron's voice was hoarse and he'd broken into a sweat.

Madame Pomfrey chose then to come over and make them leave, insisting that Ron needed his sleep.

\-------------------line break--------------

Sirius was anxious. Harry had handed his leash to the twins, grabbed his cloak, and slipped out to meet Draco. That was two hours ago. And they still weren't back. Sirius spent the whole time pacing. Fred and George dragged him down to the common room so he wouldn't wake the other boys in their dorm.

"Shadow, calm down." Fred sighed. 

"They're fine, just go to sleep." George groaned.

Sirius kept pacing. He had peeked into Harry's room a while ago only to see that he and Ron weren't the only ones out of bed. Neville was gone too. He wondered if Neville had found them and gotten them caught or something. His father had almost gotten the Marauders caught when they were in first year. Maybe a similar thing had happened?

Finally, Harry and Neville walked into the room. Both looked completely miserable.

"There you are!" George grinned.

"We were starting to worry."

"What happened?"

"We got caught." Harry sniffled. Sirius ran to his side and started looking him over for injuries. Harry had cuts on his palms from his own fingernails. He half listened as Harry told them about losing a hundred points for Gryffindor and getting detention. With Draco and Zabini. Sirius tried to comfort both first years, Neville looked almost as close to a breakdown as Harry, but he didn't think he did a very good job.

Harry didn't sleep that night, so Sirius stayed up with him. They could hear Neville sobbing into his pillow for a few hours. Sirius went to cuddle with the boy for a little while, just until he fell asleep, he tugged the blankets a bit higher on Neville, then went back to Harry.

"I screwed up, Shadow. Everyone hates me now." Harry whispered into his fur.

\----------------line break-------------------

The next morning was terrible. Slytherin had lost some points because of Draco and Zabini, but apparently Snape had been reluctant to take points, because they were still in the lead. The story of how Gryffindor had lost so many points had spread quickly. Most students glared at Harry, and no one even bothered to lower their voices when they insulted him. Sirius spent a lot of time growling that day, and Harry had three breakdowns during his classes.

Draco spent every free second he had with them. The other Slytherins were not happy he'd lost points while helping a Gryffindor.

"My father's sent several letters telling me how disappointed he is." Draco sighed, "The only reason he hasn't sent a Howler is because he's afraid of what it would do to the family image."

"I'm sorry, Draco." Harry said, "If I hadn't-"

"Don't start." Draco cut him off, "I wanted to help. Everyone else will get over it."

"Even though you're still friends with Gryffindors?"

He laughed, "Believe it or not, I'm not the only Slytherin with Gryffindor friends. They're just more discreet, what with the rivalry and all. They're just mad that I *lost points* while being friends with you. Gives the crazier kids in my house more of an excuse for why we shouldn't be friends."

"You won't listen to them though. Right?"

"Never."

\------------------line break-------------

Sirius had been happy to hear Harry promise not to meddle in things that didn't concern him after the incident with the dragon. It meant that Sirius could relax, he didn't need to really do anything about the stone now. Harry would keep his friends out of it, and was sure the twins had been the only other students who would've shoved their noses into the business with the stone.

Unfortunately, a week before exams started Harry and Sirius overheard Quirrell whimpering in a classroom up ahead.

"No- no- not again, please." Quirrell sobbed, "All right- all right-"

A second later Quirrell came rushing out of the classroom, straightening his turban. He was pale and looked like he was about to cry.

Sirius was reminded of Peter. He'd look a lot like that- minus the turban- after he'd been bullied. It didn't happen often, especially not in later years. The Marauders always got revenge. Still, the sight made Sirius angrier, not nostalgic. Peter was a traitor, and Quirrell was clearly no better.

"Shadow," At Harry's voice, Sirius shook dark thoughts away, "I think I'm going to have to break that promise I made."

Sirius's heart sank.

\------------------line break-------------

The next morning, Harry and Neville were delivered notes from McGonagall telling them when and where to go for their detention that night. At eleven o'clock the two boys went to the entrance hall where they met Draco, Filch, and Zabini.

"Follow me." Filch said. He lit a lamp and lead them outside. "I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, eh? Oh yes... hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me."

Sirius rolled his eyes. 'But no one did, now did they?'

Filch continued talking about the old punishments- Sirius was pretty sure they hadn't actually used the punishments he was talking about in the last century, and was just trying to scare the kids.

Harry brightened when he heard Hagrid call out to Filch. Sirius pushed against his hand, he doubted this was actually a good thing. Filch confirmed that a second later.

"I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well, think again, boy- it's into the forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll come out in one piece."

Harry and Neville paled and Draco and Zabini looked nervous. Sirius growled. What were they thinking?! The Forest was forbidden for a reason! Sure, the Marauders had spent a good deal of time there, but they'd had a freaking werewolf with them and had been Animagi. Whose idea had it been to send four first years there for detention. Sirius couldn't remember doing anything so dangerous for detentions, and he'd gotten *a lot* of them.

Once Filch left, Hagrid told them what they would be doing tonight. Hunt down an injured unicorn and "put it out of its misery." Sirius was stunned. If things had gone the way they were supposed to, and Harry had written him about this detention, Sirius might have actually considered pulling him out of Hogwarts. Granted, he might not have actually done it, but he'd definitely have thought about it.

"Don' worry. There's nothin' tha lives in the forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me or Fang. In fact, I think Shadow'll give 'em somethin' teh think abou' too." Hagrid said. "Keep ter the path. Right now, we're gonna split inter two parties an' follow the trail in diff'rent directions. There's blood all over the place, it must've bin staggerin' around since last night at least."

Split up? Was Hagrid crazy? Even if one group had him and Fang it wouldn't do a ton of good if they ran into something dangerous. Sirius wanted to smack Hagrid. This was ridiculously irresponsible and dangerous. They were first years and this was the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid shouldn't leave them alone!

When they reached the fork in the road Draco and Harry stayed with Hagrid while Zabini and Neville took Fang. Sirius was on high alert as they walked through the forest. He heard Harry asking Hagrid about werewolves and tried not to roll his eyes. He loved his godson, but come on. The full moon wasn't due for another week. It couldn't be a werewolf. He could picture Remus's offended expression.

Sirius barked when he smelled something up ahead. He thought it was a centaur, but he couldn't be sure. It had been a long time since he'd roamed the forest, after all.

Hagrid got the kids behind a tree and called out to whatever it was. Sure enough, a centaur stepped into the clearing. Sirius closed his eyes, he thought he recognized it.

/It was the full moon and the four of them were running around in the woods. Padfoot had slipped away from the others to get a little rest. Moony had been particularly rough for some reason.

Padfoot saw a shadow of something run past him. He'd thought it was Prongs and ran after it. He chased it into a clearing and backed into the trees again as fast as he could. It was a centaur. They stared at each other for a minute or so before it gave him a small nod and ran off again. He'd waited another minute or so before running off to find his friends again./

Sirius shook his head. Another centaur had joined the first, both were staring up at the sky, and Harry was gently tugging his leash. Sirius glanced at them again before following him.

They'd just reached a bend in the path when red sparks shot into the air.

"You two wait here!" Hagrid shouted, "Stay on the path, I'll come back for yeh!"

They heard him crash through the undergrowth. Harry and Draco stayed close to each other, shivering slightly with fear and cold. Sirius stayed in front of them, listening closely for any sounds of danger.

"Do you think one of them got hurt?" Harry whispered.

"I don't care much about Zabini, but if something hurt your Gryffindor friend..." Draco scowled, "He shouldn't be here in the first place."

Several minutes later, Hagrid came back with Zabini, Neville, and Fang in tow. Hagrid was fuming. Apparently, Zabini had sneaked up behind Neville and grabbed him as a joke. Neville had panicked and sent up the sparks. Sirius growled softly. That was the kind of joke you played on a friend, or for some kind of revenge on some one who deserved it. Not innocent kids who were already panicky!

"We'll be lucky ter catch anythin' now, with the racket you two were makin'. Right, we're changing groups- Neville, you stay with me an' Draco, Harry, you an' Shadow go with Fang an' this idiot."

"No!" Draco said quickly, "I'll go. He'll have a harder time scaring me."

Hagrid sighed, "With Shadow around I don' think Harry'll have any trouble. 'Sides, havin' both dogs'll be safer."

Harry smiled at his friend, "It's fine, Draco. Really."

So Harry, Sirius, Zabini, and Fang set off. After about half an hour, the path became nearly impossible to follow because of the trees. Sirius sniffed at a pool of unicorn blood they found. It smelled fresher than the ones they'd started with. They had to be getting close. Sirius saw a clearing ahead, and smelled something... wrong. He wasn't sure what it was, just that he really didn't want to let the kids anywhere near there. Fang hid behind Zabini as the boys pressed forward.

In the middle of the clearing was the dead unicorn. Sirius felt a pang. Unicorns were such pure, innocent creatures. He'd seen one alive, years ago when he was still in school. It had been one of the most beautiful things he'd ever seen- not that he would've admitted it at the time. Seeing one dead was heart-wrenching.

He shook his head clear. He could grieve for the unicorn later, now he had to get the boys to safety. Fang would be no help, but at least he wouldn't get in the way, probably. He heard something slithering off to the side. 

He barked and pushed at the boys, urging them to turn and leave, quickly.

A cloaked figure slid out from the bushes and crawled to the unicorn's side. Sirius started pushing at the boys again as it lowered its head to drink.

Zabini started screaming and bolted, Fang barking at his side. The hooded figure lifted its head and looked right at Harry. The boy remained frozen in fear as the figure started moving towards them. Sirius gave up trying to get Harry to move and stepped in front of him, growling. When the figure didn't back down he prepared to return to his human form and fight off the creature. Since Harry was the only one around maybe Sirius could talk to him. Assure him that he was here to help. Before he could change Harry staggered back and a centaur rushed the creature rearing back at the last second and lashing out with its hooves. The figure fled.

Sirius started looking Harry over for injuries. He'd fallen to his knees and had a hand pressed to his head.

"I'm okay." Harry whispered, "Head just hurts a bit."

The centaur stepped closer to them and helped Harry to his feet, "Are you alright?"

Harry nodded, slipping a hand into Sirius's fur.

The centaur introduced himself as Firenze. He recognized Harry and offered to let him ride on his back so he could return him to Hagrid. Harry hesitated, looking down at Sirius, who nudged him towards the centaur encouragingly.

Just as Harry got settled on Firenze's back, the two centaurs from before came galloping into the clearing, flanks heaving and sweaty.

Sirius watched, worried, as one of the centaurs, Bane?, yelled at Firenze for letting a human ride him and "interfering." Firenze insisted that what he was doing was right and plunged into the trees, leaving Sirius scrambling to catch up. Centaurs were *fast*.

Sirius was more focused on catching his breath than listening to Harry and Firenze's conversation about unicorn blood. He already knew what it would do, and just who would dare use it. He had read some of the books in the Black family library, after all.

Draco and Hagrid ran towards them and Harry slipped off Firenze's back. Draco nearly tackled Harry when he reached him.

"I'm fine." Harry mumbled.

"This is where I leave you." Firenze said, "Good luck, Harry Potter."

After Firenze galloped away, Hagrid lead them back to where he'd left Zabini, Neville, and Fang.

"Well, I reckon that's enough fer one night. I'll take yeh back ter the castle."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always thought the first year detention was kinda harsh. In later books we see Harry get other detentions, and I think this was the most dangerous one he ever had. Especially considering this was his first year.


	19. Plans

Sirius was proud of Harry. The boy had been half terrified that Voldemort would pop up and kill him, yet he still managed to get through his exams. Though, he was annoyed that his friends weren't as worried about the Stone as he was. His scar kept hurting and he frequently complained to Sirius.

"I know it's a warning, Shadow. I just don't know what it's warning me about." He sighed, "I can't make it stop if I don't know why it's happening."

Sirius hoped that Harry wouldn't go after the Stone because of his "warning." He didn't get his hopes too far up, this was James's son, after all.

The day of the last exam Harry and his friends sat out by the Lake, talking about how well, or poorly, they thought they'd done. Lee Jordan and the twins insisted that the first years had nothing to worry about.

"No one really cares about how you do in first year." Fred told them.

"They make a big deal about it, but exams only really start influencing your future in fifth year." George added.

"Until then you can relax and coast."

Lee rolled his eyes at them, "Don't tell them that. If you want them to be pranksters like us they can't be suspicious. No one suspects the kids with good grades. Er, not at first, anyway."

Draco laughed, "You almost sound like a Slytherin with that thinking, Lee."

"Since it's coming from you, I'll take that as a complement."

"Your scar bothering you again, Harry?" Hermione asked. Harry had been rubbing his forehead, scowling.

"I can't figure it out." He groaned.

"Relax." George insisted, "It'll come to you."

Harry sighed, glaring at the ground for a moment before his head snapped up, eyes wide. He jumped to his feet and started walking towards Hagrid's hut.

"Harry?" Ron called, "Where're you going?"

His friends hurried after him.

"Don't you think it's weird that want Hagrid wants more than anything is a dragon, and then a stranger shows up that just happens to have one in his pocket? Ron, you told me it's against the law, so how many people would do that? Anyone else see something wrong with that picture?"

"Told you it'd come to you, Harry." George grinned.

Harry flashed a smile at him and ran up to Hagrid, who was sitting in an armchair outside his hut, shelling peas.

"Hullo." Hagrid said, smiling, "Finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink?"

"Yes, please." Ron answered. The twins smacked him upside the head.

"We're in a hurry." Harry said, "I've got to ask you something. You know that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?"

"Dunno," Hagrid shrugged, "he wouldn' take his cloak off."

"Really?" Draco frowned.

"It's not tha' unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head-- tha's the pub down in the village. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up."

Harry looked a little desperate. "What did you talk to him about, Hagrid? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?"

"Mighta come up." Hagrid frowned as he tried to remember. Sirius hoped he wouldn't, he knew where Harry was going with this and didn't want his godson in any more danger. "Yeah... he asked what I did, an' I told him I was gamekeeper here... He asked a bit abou' the sorta creatures I look after, so I told him... an' I said I'd always really wanted a dragon... an' then... I can' remember too well, cause he kept buying me drinks... Let's see... yeah, then he said he had the dragon egg an' we could play cards fer it if I wanted... but he had ter be sure I could handle it, he didn' want it ter go ter any old home... So I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy...."

"And did he-- did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Harry asked. Sirius noticed how hard Harry was trying to stay calm.

"Well-- yeah-- how many three-headed dogs d'yeh meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake if yeh know how ter calm him down. Jus' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go striaght off ter sleep--"

Sirius wanted to shake Hagrid. He really appreciated what Hagrid had done for Harry, he really did. The man was kind and invited Harry and his friends over just to chat, he was there when Sirius couldn't be and the Marauder was very grateful for that. But how could he be so stupid! Honestly, telling strangers how to get past the guard dog for the Sorcerer's Stone. Granted, he had been drunk, but still!

"I shouldn'ta told yeh that!"

'No kidding!' Sirius wanted to scream.

The kids ran back towards the castle, Sirius running alongside them, as always.

"We've got to tell Dumbledore." Harry said. "I'll bet Shadow that it was Voldemort or Snape under that cloak. It must've been easy for them to get Hagrid to tell them how to get past Fluffy once he was drunk. I just hope Dumbledore believes us."

"Do you know where Dumbledore's office is?" Hermione asked.

Harry looked around, frowning. "No. We'll just have to--"

"What are you all doing inside?" McGonagall's voice rang across the hall.

"We want to see Professor Dumbledore." Draco said.

"Really? Why?"

Lee stepped forward, "It's kind of personal, Professor. We thought that, since Draco's involved, it would be best to speak with the Headmaster, instead of the Head of House."

McGonagall frowned, "Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago. He received an urgent owl from the Ministry and flew off to London at once. If it's truly that urgent, you can speak with me."

"He's gone? But this is really important!" He insisted. "It's about the Sorcerer's Stone."

The professor dropped the books she'd been holding, "How did you--"

Fred and George jumped in, "Look, Professor- Lee wasn't telling the whole truth when he said this was a personal matter."

"Fact is, we know someone's planning on stealing the Stone."

"So we really need to talk to Dumbledore."

"Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow. I don't know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can possibly steal it." McGonagall said shortly.

"But Professor-"

"I know what I'm talking about." She gathered her fallen books, "I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine."

Sirius started to walk outside, hoping that the kids would wait for Dumbledore. Harry jerked his leash to make him stop. Once McGonagall was a ways out of earshot he spoke, "It's tonight. Snape's going through the trapdoor tonight. He's found out everything he needs, and now Dumbledore's out of the way. He probably sent that note not the Ministry."

Draco frowned, "I know you're convinced that Professor Snape's behind this, Harry, but I've known him my whole life and I don't think he would do something like this."

"Maybe You-Know-Who possessed him or something." Lee suggested, "Was he always so-"

Hermione grabbed his arm, "Good afternoon, Professor."

Snape was walking towards them, "Good afternoon. What are all of you doing inside on a day like this?"

Harry gripped Sirius's fur.

Snape eyed the twins, "Not planning some misguided prank of yours?"

"Who us?" Fred asked.

"Why, Professor, would we do something like that?" George grinned.

Snape rolled his eyes and swept off.

"He does seem a little colder than normal." Draco muttered.

"Keep an eye on him." Harry said, "You're in Slytherin. See if he does anything suspicious. Try to keep him away from the third floor."

"Actually, I think we'd be better suited for that bit." Lee smirked.

"No problem." The twins chorused.

Naturally, their plan did go as they'd hoped. Draco couldn't watch Snape all day, and the prank Lee and the twins were planning was stopped by McGonagall. They ended up with detentions for the next month. They met up in the library just before dinner. With the exception of Lee and the twins, who were studying for the last of their exams.

"I have to try to get the Stone before Snape does." Harry sighed.

"Are you mad?" Ron hissed, "You'll get expelled for sure."

"So? If Voldemort gets the Stone he'll come back. You heard what he'd done last time. There won't be a Hogwarts anymore! Not like this. It'd'll be a school for the Dark Arts, if it stays standing. I'd rather be expelled trying to stop this than to sit around doing nothing."

"We'll go with you." Draco said.

"Do you think the cloak will fit all four of us?" Ron wondered.

"You don't have to--" Harry started.

"Don't be absurd." Hermione said briskly, "Of course we're going with you. I'll see if I can manage a Disillusionment Charm, in case the cloak won't fit all of us."

Draco snickered, "The twins are going to be furious that they can't come."


	20. Dreaming and Accidents

Harry tied his leash to the bed again.

"Sorry about this, Shadow." He whispered, "But I can't let you get hurt."

Sirius waited for almost an hour after Harry and Ron had left before shifting into his human form. It was late enough that he didn't have to worry about the other boys waking up, though he was a little nervous since Neville wasn't in the room. He found the boy lying in the common room under a Body-Bind Curse.

He shifted back into his dog form. He did feel kind of bad for not undoing the curse, but it would have blown his cover if he had. Instead, he licked the boy's face and whined in sympathy. The poor boy had probably tried to stop Harry and the others. Sirius sighed and slipped out of the room. Once he was in one of the secret passages, he turned human again.

The door to Fluffy's room was open when Sirius got there. He cursed quietly. The kids were probably through the trapdoor now. Which meant that Sirius would have to follow them. Fluffy was sleeping when he walked in. The trapdoor was open too, so Sirius cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself and jumped down.

It wasn't really hard to find the kids. They'd left a trail, and it wasn't as though there were many other directions to go in the first place. He ended up running into Hermione, Ron, and Draco. Thankfully, the Charm hadn't worn off yet, but Sirius was extremely worried that Harry wasn't with them, and Ron was unconscious. Draco and Hermione were carrying him.

"Do you really think Harry will be alright?" Draco asked.

"Absolutely." Hermione answered, "He's stronger than he thinks he is. Besides, even Shadow wouldn't have been able to follow him through that last challenge. It was one person only, remember?"

"I know." Draco sighed. He shook his head, "Let's focus on getting out."

Sirius moved to a shadowed corner of the room and conjured a ladder. He pushed it a little so it would fall into the kids' sight.

"Well, that's... convenient." Draco frowned.

Hermione nodded.

Sirius continued on. Harry was still in danger.

\------------------------line break---------------------------

Of course getting to Harry couldn't be so easy. Sirius glared at the line of potions. The one that would have gotten him through the black flames was completely gone. Still, he was a Marauder! They could always find another way.

It took him longer than he'd wanted to think of the spell. It was one Lily had made up, he couldn't remember why, but it got him through the flame. He was too late. Harry was out cold on the floor, a strange, red stone in his hand.

"Harry!" Sirius rushed to his side. He was still breathing, just passed out. Sirius sighed in relief. He slipped the Stone into Harry's pocket- they could deal with that later- and scooped his godson into his arms.

Harry groaned as he started walking. 

"It's okay, pup. I've got you. You're alright. I won't let anything else hurt you." He pressed a kiss to Harry's forehead, "I promise."

The boy's eyes fluttered open when they passed through the purple fire.

"Who-"

"Shh." Sirius smiled at him, "Don't talk too much, pup. You're hurt."

Harry frowned, "But, who are you?"

"I'm your godfather."

"Why-"

"We couldn't talk before. And I'm sorry, but I can't take you away from the Dursleys just yet. It's a long story, Harry. I'll tell you everything one day. I will stay close by though," Harry's eyes were closing again. Sirius smiled and his voice dropped to a whisper, "I'll be right by your side, whenever you need me."

\------------------------line break----------------------

Sirius had to put Harry down and shift back into his dog form when they reached the ladder, he could hear voices at the top and see a figure starting to descend. Sirius barked when he recognized the figure as Dumbledore.

The headmaster gave him a knowing look before bringing them both up. Sirius followed him to the hospital wing, panicking. Did Dumbledore know? Was he going to force him to reveal himself? Or send him away? He wouldn't do that though, right? If he was going to he would have done it when he first found out, wouldn't he? Sirius decided not to worry about it right now. The headmaster hadn't said anything, so either he didn't know or wasn't going to do anything about it. Probably.

Sirius spent the next three days at his godson's side. Harry's friends visited every day at lunch and just before dinner, many of the other students sent sweets. Dumbledore came the third day during afternoon classes.

Dumbledore smiled at Sirius and scratched his ears- which lead Sirius to believe that he didn't know.

"I see you haven't left. Such a loyal dog."

Then again... The words themselves told him nothing, the way they were said on the other hand...

Harry woke up a few minutes later.

"Good afternoon, Harry."

Harry stared at him for a couple of minutes before he seemed to remember, "Sir! The Stone! It was Quirrell! He's-"

"Calm yourself, dear boy. Quirrell does not have the Stone."

Sirius nudged Harry's hand gently. He looked relieved to see the dog and started petting him.

"Who- who, um, does?"

"No one, it was destroyed." Dumbledore assured him.

"H-how long have I been here?"

"Three days. Quite a clever dog you have here, Harry. It appears he dragged you back to the trapdoor."

Harry smiled and wrapped his arms around Sirius, "Thank you, Shadow."

Sirius licked his cheek.

"Sir! The others. Are they-"

"Perfectly fine. They have been rather worried about you. As you may have noticed, you've got many an admirer after this... excursion."

"Sir?" Harry swallowed, "Vol-, I mean, You-Know-Who-"

"Call him Voldemort, Harry. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself."

Harry nodded, "Voldemort- does he have other ways of coming back? I mean, if he tried once he'll try again, right?"

Dumbledore smiled, "Try? I have no doubt of it. I do not believe he will succeed. He may find another body to share, eventually, but without the Stone it will take far more time for him to truly return. If he is delayed enough, he may never return at all."

"Sir, why couldn't Quirrell touch me?" Harry blurted out.

"Your mother found a way to save you, Harry. A love as powerful as your mother's was for you leaves a sort of mark. Not a scar, no visible sign... to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever. It is in your very skin. Quirrell, full of hatred, greed, and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort, couldn't touch you for this reason. It was agony to touch something so good."

Sirius let out a small whine. He hadn't wanted to cry this much since seeing the Mirror of Erised. Harry sat up and kissed his head.

"Sir, can I ask just one more thing?"

"Just one? Go right ahead, my boy."

"How did I get the Stone out of the mirror?"

Sirius blinked. Clearly, he'd missed a lot. Sure he'd heard bits of what had happened from other students, mainly Harry's friends, but he hadn't heard that Harry got the Stone from a mirror!

"Ah, now, I'm glad you asked me that. It was one of my more brilliant ideas, and between you and me, that's saying something. You see, only one who wanted to /find/ the Stone- find it, but not use it- would be able to get it, otherwise they'd just see themselves making gold or drinking Elixir of Life. My brain surprises even me sometimes... Now, enough questions. I suggest you make a start on these sweets. Ah! Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans! I was unfortunate enough in my youth to come across a vomit-flavored one, and since then I'm afraid I've rather lost my liking for them- but I think I'll be safe with a nice toffee. Do you mind?"

Harry shook his head.

He smiled and popped the golden-brown bean into his mouth. Then he choked, "Alas! Ear wax!"

\---------------------line break----------------------

That night, Sirius cuddled close to Harry. 

"Do people dream when they're unconscious, Shadow? Because I think I did." He whispered. "There was this man. He was carrying me somewhere. He said he was my godfather. It was a really nice dream."

Harry buried his nose in Sirius's fur, "I wish it was real, boy. It seemed like he really loved me. You know, the way parents are supposed to love their kids. Maybe he would've spoiled me the way Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon spoil Dudley. Not that I'd want to be like Dudley, of course. But, it might be nice, sometimes."

Sirius's heart twisted. Harry thought it was a dream. Maybe that was for the best, his secret was safe.

"Even if he couldn't take me away it would be nice to know there was someone who cared about me like that." He sighed, "At least I can go to Draco's and the Weasley's this summer. I won't be stuck at the Dursleys' the whole time."

Sirius waited until Harry had fallen asleep before changing form. It was late enough that he wasn't really worried about Pomfrey coming to check on the boy. He hugged his godson tight. "You weren't dreaming, Harry. I'm here, and I love you. I'll find a way to clear my name and then we can live together. You and me. We can even fix things between me and your Uncle Remus. You'll love him."

They stayed like that for too long. Harry in Sirius's arms. Only, Sirius didn't pay enough attention, and Harry woke up before he could change back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this took longer to get out than I planned. As penance I'll be posting the next chapter for this story and the epilogue for my other one in the next week (hopefully). Thanks for sticking with me guys!


	21. Secrets

Sirius froze and started silently cursing himself for being so careless. Harry's eyes were open and staring at him.

"You're the man from my dream." The boy frowned, "Am I still asleep?"

Sirius's mouth moved before his brain did, "No, you're awake. You were then too."

Harry sat up and started looking around frantically.

Sirius cast a quick privacy charm. He could only imagine what Madame Pomfrey would do if she found them now. That done, he turned back to his godson. "Looking for Shadow?"

His head snapped up, eyes wide and filled with tears. "W-where is he? What d-did you do t-to h-him?"

"I'm right here, Harry. I'm still right here."

"Wh-what?"

He sighed, there was no point in hiding it now. Sirius shifted back into his Animagus form. Harry slowly moved closer, "Shadow?" Sirius licked his cheek and slid back into his human form.

"You can't tell anyone, Harry. They'll take me away if you do."

"Yo-you're- but, how?"

"Promise you won't tell?"

He nodded.

"I'm an Animagus. I can change into a dog at will. McGonagall's one too. She's a cat."

"Why did you pretend?" The tears had started to fall from the boy's eyes, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Sirius ran his fingers through his hair, "This isn't how I wanted you to find out. I was going to tell you, really I was. But, I'm a wanted man, pup. I was framed for something I didn't do and I broke out of prison to find you. I'm sorry I couldn't get to you sooner."

Harry sniffled. Sirius pulled him close and pressed a kiss to the top of his head.

"I wanted to be part of your life. Until I can clear my name, this is the only way I can." He pulled back a little so he could look at Harry's face, "I'll understand, if you want me to leave. I did lie to you, so say the word, and I'll go. Promise."

"Are you really my godfather?"

"Yes."

"So you knew my parents?"

"I did. Your dad and I were best friends all through school."

"Do-" He looked away, blushing. It took him about a minute before he could continue, his voice barely more than a whisper, "Do you love me?"

Sirius pulled him close again, "Oh, Harry. Of course I love you." He gently rocked the boy for a minute or two, "Did you know I was one of the first people to hold you?"

Harry looked up and shook his head.

"Your dad came out of the delivery room with the biggest smile. Your Uncle Remus and I were in the waiting room and Remus was terrified that he would break you." His voice dropped to a whisper, "I was too, but don't tell him that."

A small smile touched Harry's face.

"James was just so eager to have one of us hold you. Since Remus practically backed against a wall when he tried to get him to do it, I volunteered. You were so tiny." He brushed Harry's hair from his eyes, "I wish they could see how well you've grown."

"If I don't tell, and you stay with me, will you tell me more about them?"

Sirius grinned, "Absolutely."

Harry swallowed, "Can I tell my friends?"

"If you want to. But I think Hermione and Draco will want to tell a teacher."

"Probably."

"It's your choice, Harry. But if they react poorly, I might have to leave anyway."

"Okay." He was quiet for long enough that Sirius started to think that he'd fallen back to sleep when he spoke again, "I don't even know your real name."

"Sirius. My real name is Sirius."

Harry nodded, "Sirius? Tomorrow, can you tell me more about my parents, and who 'Uncle Remus' is?"

"Alright, pup. But now you need to sleep."

"Will you be Shadow again when I wake up?"

"Yes."

Harry sighed, "Okay. But, I''m gonna have a lot of questions for you tomorrow night."

Sirius squeezed him a little, "I wouldn't expect anything else. Now, go to sleep." He let go and changed back into his Animagus form.

\-----------------------------line break-------------------------------

Harry's friends were loud. Sirius had been sound asleep when they'd come barging in and woke him up. Harry looked happy to have them there, so Sirius thought that losing a bit of sleep wasn't so bad.

"Are you okay?"

"How much longer do you have to stay in here?"

"Is everything people are saying about what happened between you and Quirrell true?"

"I can't believe-"

"You'd go do something so dangerous-"

"Without us!"

Harry told them that he was fine and that he was sorry for worrying them. "Honestly, I'll be out by the feast tomorrow at the latest."

"But what happened?" Ron repeated, frowning, "I mean, there's tons of rumors going around, but we can't really trust them, can we?"\

Draco scowled at Ron before turning back to Harry, "You don't have to tell us if you don't want to."

"It's fine." Harry took a deep breath, "So, after I went through the black flames..."

As Harry told his friends about what happened between him and Quirrell, Sirius found himself growling softly. He couldn't believe he hadn't been there for his godson for something like that. Harry had basically killed someone, and Sirius hadn't been there to stop it. When Harry noticed Sirius growling, he starting petting him, to make him stop.

"Wow, mate." George breathed, "You're amazing."

Harry blushed, "I'm really not."

"Trust us, you are." Fred insisted.

Hermione squeezed his hand, "We will fight you on this."

He smiled at her.

"So, the Stone's gone then? For good?" Ron frowned.

"Yeah. Professor Dumbledore said Flamel had enough to get his affairs in order and all before he's gone."

"I wonder how long it will take before someone else makes another one." Draco mused, "I mean, now people know it can be done, someone's bound to try and do it again, right?"

"Let's just hope they don't manage it anytime soon." Hermione said, "It seems to cause more trouble than it's worth."

"That depends on who you're talking to."

Harry rolled his eyes, "Enough about the Stone. I want to know what happened to you three."

"Oh, right." Draco blushed.

"Well, we brought Ron round- which took a while- and we were just dashing up to the owlery to contact Dumbledore when we met him in the entrance hall." Hermione explained.

Draco cut in, "He apparently already knew- just said 'Harry's gone after him, hasn't he?' and ran off to the third floor. If he knew, why didn't he go sooner? Or do you think he just guessed because we were the ones to go get him? Makes me wonder what would've happened if we'd gone to him for something else."

"He probably would've guessed it." Harry shrugged, "I think he knows more or less everything that goes on in the school."

The twins shared a look, "I'm not sure how to feel about that."

"Nor am I." Hermione scowled, "What if you'd been killed? Shadow dragged you out, not Dumbledore. What if he'd been too late or something?"

"He wasn't."

"He could've been!"

Madame Pomfrey came over then, "You've had nearly fifteen minutes and you're riling up my patient, now OUT!"

Reluctantly, his friends said their goodbyes and left. Sirius sighed in relief, Harry hadn't told them. At least, not yet. He meant it when he said it was Harry's choice, but he didn't think they would take it very well and he still wanted to stay close to Harry. Honestly, he was stunned the boy hadn't flipped out yet. He guessed it was because Harry had trusted him as Shadow and some of the trust had carried over. Or perhaps Harry wasn't totally convinced he hadn't been dreaming. Sirius sighed, Harry would question him again tonight. Who knew, maybe Sirius would get a couple answers too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took a little more time to get out than I wanted. Hope it was worth the wait for you guys.


	22. Answers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I actually had this chapter done a month ago, but our wi-fi cut out and deleted it before I could post it. Then I kinda lost the motivation to rewrite it until now, which is also why it's so short.

Harry waited until Madam Pomfrey went to bed before turning to Sirius. "Okay, time for some answers."

Sirius sighed and slipped into his human form. He cast a privacy charm, "What do you want to know?"

"What did you do just now?"

He chuckled, "Privacy charm, pup. Can't have Poppy over there seeing me like this, can we?"

The boy nodded, "What were my parents like?"

Sirius flopped onto the bed, pulling Harry down so he was laying on his chest. "Let's see. Your mum was absolutely brilliant. Smartest witch I ever knew, which made her that much more terrifying when her temper flared up. James was a prankster. We had this little group, the Marauders. James was kind of our leader. He came up with most of the ideas for our pranks. Of course, Remus was the one who got the four of us out of trouble the most."

"So, Mum was a Marauder too?"

"Not exactly..."

"Then who was the fourth member? My dad, you, and Remus make three, but you said 'the four of us.' So who's the fourth?"

The Animagus sighed, "Peter. The fourth member was a boy named Peter. He died around the same time your parents did."

"Oh."

There was silence for a minute, then- "Is Remus still alive? You've mentioned him a couple times now, will I ever get to meet him?"

Sirius hugged him, "I hope so. It's been so long, I don't know where he is now, but I hope he's okay. I want you to meet him."

Harry yawned, shifting in his godfather's arms.

"You should get some sleep. Pomfrey won't let you out for the feast if you're sleep deprived."

"But I have more questions."

"Honestly, I'd be a little disappointed if you didn't." Sirius kissed his hair, "I'm not going anywhere. Go to sleep, we have all summer for your questions."

Harry smiled a little, "Not all summer, my friends wanted me to go to their houses remember?"

"That's right." He grinned, "You've got good friends, pup. Now, sleep."

He hummed and cuddled up against his godfather, dropping off to sleep in a matter of minutes. Sirius waited until he was out before changing form and succumbing to sleep himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been over a year since I started this thing and I'm still not done with year one! Let's all hope year two goes by faster, shall we?


	23. Feast

"So I can definitely go to the feast tonight, right Madame Pomfrey?" Harry asked.

The nurse smiled, "For the fifth time, yes. You can go to the feast."

Harry blushed.

"You also have a visitor. Fifteen minutes dear."

"Thanks!"

Hagrid came in and sat down. He took one look at Harry and burst into tears.

"Hagrid? What's wrong? What did I do? Whatever it was, I'm sorry. Please stop crying."

"Yeh d-didn' d-do anythin'. It's all m-my ruddy f-fault!" Hagrid sobbed. "Yeh almost died! If I had jus'-"

"Hagrid! That wasn't your fault. We tricked you into telling. And even if you hadn't said anything, we still would've gone down there. So, in a way, you telling us helped keep one of us from getting even more hurt!" Harry smiled up at him.

"But, I told tha' evil git how ter get past Fluffy! It was the only thing he didn' know an' I told him! I'll never drink again! I should be chucked out to live like a Muggle!"

"But, think about who you're talking about, Hagrid. He'd have figured something out eventually, even if you hadn't told him."

It took a couple of minutes before Hagrid managed calm down.

"Do you want a Chocolate Frog or something? I've got loads."

Hagrid wiped his nose, "That reminds me. I've got a present fer yeh." 

He pulled out a nice, leather-covered book. Sirius jumped up on the bed when Harry opened it. The book was filled with photos of James and Lily, smiling and waving up at them. Sirius let out a small whine, Harry scratched his ears absentmindedly.

"I sent owls to all yer parents old school friends askin' fer pictures. I knew yeh didn' have any... d'yeh like it?"

Harry looked up with tears in his eyes. Hagrid grinned and hugged him.

Sirius stared at the book. He wondered how many of those pictures had come from Remus. He had to have sent at least one. Sirius's head dropped onto his jaws. He missed Remus. He really wished he could talk to him again.

\-----------------------line break--------------------------

Sirius trailed after Harry on the way to the end-of-year feast. Madame Pomfrey had insisted on giving Harry one last check up before they left, so the Great Hall was already full. Harry did his best to go unnoticed as he slipped inside. He hated being late. The Hall was decked out in Slytherin green and silver to celebrate their winning the House Cup. Draco caught Harry's eye and waved, grinning. Harry smiled shyly and waved back before slipping into his seat by his Gryffindor friends.

"Gotta say, I'm happy for Draco and all, but this sucks." Fred pouted.

George sighed and nodded, "Seventh year in a row. McGonagall must be furious"

"That's probably our fault." Harry mumbled.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Don't be silly, Harry. They just did better than us this year. It's not the fault of a single person."

"Cheer up, mate." Ron chimed in, "Next year we'll smash those Slytherins!"

Dumbledore arrived a moment later. "Another year gone! And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into this delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they once were... You have all summer to get them nice and empty before next year starts... Now, as I understand it, the house cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus; in fourth place, Gryffindor with three hundred and twelve points; in third Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw in second with four hundred and twenty-six; and Slytherin in first, with four hundred and seventy-two."

Loud cheering erupted from the Slytherin table. Polite applause came from everyone else.

"Yes, yes. Well done Slytherin." Dumbledore said, "However, recent events must be taken into account."

The Slytherin's smiles faded a little. Draco shot a confused look at his Gryffindor friends. They shrugged back at him.

"I have a few last minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes... First-- to Mr. Ronald Weasley..."

Ron's face went as red as his hair.

"...for the best played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

The Great Hall practically shook the Gryffindors cheered so loud.

/Poor Draco/ Sirius thought. He knew there was no way Dumbledore would bring this up now, in front of everyone, if Gryffindor wasn't going to end up winning.

"Second-- to Miss Hermione Granger... for use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

Hermione buried her face in her arms. Sirius was pretty sure she'd burst into tears. Harry wrapped an arm around her, smiling. "Well done, Hermione." He whispered.

"Third-- to Mr. Harry Potter..."

The room went deadly quiet. Harry slipped his hand into Sirius's fur and tried to look as small as possible.

"...for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house sixty points."

The din was deafening. Gryffindor was now tied with Slytherin. Sirius wondered if Draco's part in everything had been awarded privately, or if it would even be acknowledged at all. Looking across the Hall, Sirius could see Draco's disappointed expression. He knew where this was going as well as everyone else.

"There are all kinds of courage," Dumbledore continued, "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom."

Even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff joined in the celebration, Slytherin had lost. Neville, white faced in shock, disappeared under a pile of people hugging him. Sirius was glad that Dumbledore had awarded his points last. The boy hadn't won a single point for Gryffindor all year and now he'd been given the points that put Gryffindor in the lead. Harry nudged Ron and pointed at Draco. The Slytherin had slumped onto his table. Sirius was fairly sure there were tears in the boy's eyes. Once he noticed Harry and Ron looking at him, he forced a smile.

"Which means," Dumbledore called over the storm of applause, "we need a little change of decoration."

He clapped his hands. In an instant, the green hangings became scarlet and gold; the huge Slytherin serpent vanished and a towering Gryffindor lion took its place. Snape was shaking McGonagall's hand with a horrible, forced smile.

\----------------line break--------------------

The next morning the group got the chance to talk to Draco.

"I don't know why Professor Dumbledore didn't give you any points, Draco. You were just as important as the rest of us." Hermione said.

"Oh, he gave me fifty points." Draco sighed, "Just... in private."

"I think old Dumbles has a bit too much of a dramatic flair." Fred said.

"It's fine, really." Draco insisted, "We'll kick your butts next year."

Ron laughed, "Whatever you say, Draco."

"We will! I don't think reckless Gryffindors like you lot could actually keep points til the end of the year."

The others laughed again.

\-------------------line break----------------------

"You're going to come to my house over the summer, right Harry?" Draco asked. It was free period for first years, not that they were doing much in most classes anyway, exams had finished over a week ago.

"Definitely. I mean, not the whole summer, cause Ron and the twins wouldn't be happy about that, but for a while at least. You'll write before then, won't you?" Harry looked up at his friend, hopeful.

Draco snorted, "Obviously. I'll write every week if you want."

Harry grinned and hugged him, "I absolutely want!"

"Want what?" Ron frowned as he and Hermione walked over. Somehow, Hermione had roped Ron into going to the library with her.

"Harry and I are going to write every week." Draco answered.

"Oh yeah? Well, I'm going to write him twice a week!" Ron grinned.

Harry blushed.

Hermione leaned over to him, "I'll bet you a Galleon Ron doesn't keep that up for more than one week."

"You're on. I think he'll last two."

"Hey!" Ron glared.

"I want in on that bet!" Draco said.

Ron just crossed his arms and pouted.

"Sorry Ron," Harry clapped him on the shoulder, "We just know you too well."

"Fine, fine." He sighed, "Just do me one favor?"

"What?"

"Don't tell my brothers."


	24. Going "Home"

Sirius was really proud of Harry. The school year was over and Harry had passed all his classes with fairly good marks. Naturally, Hermione had the best grades of the first years, but Draco wasn't all that far behind her. Ron and the twins had passed too, of course. Even Neville scraped through. Hermione had been a little surprised that the twins had actually done enough to pass between all their pranking. Sirius wasn't. After all, most people didn't realize the intelligence and creativity that went into good pranks, and the twins could match up to the Marauders.

Soon, the wardrobes were empty, Neville's toad was found, and the notes warning the students against magic use were passed out. "I always hope they'll forget to hand these out." Fred groaned.

Hagrid led the students to the train and the group somehow found a compartment big enough for all of them. The twins set out to find Lee Jordan ten minutes into the train ride and dragged him back. When the other's, except Harry, complained that there wasn't enough room George pulled Harry into his lap.

"There," he smirked, "Plenty of room now."

Harry flushed. Lee and Fred laughed as they sat down.

Draco rolled his eyes, "Hey Harry, whose house do you want to go to first this summer?"

"Um, I'm not sure?"

"Why don't you just come home with us!" Ron grinned, "You're already packed and all, just tell your aunt and uncle that you'll be going home with your best friend Ron."

"You mean, your best friend Draco." Draco scowled.

"No, I meant what I said."

Harry looked to Hermione for help.

She sighed, "Boys, boys, your both pretty now stop making Harry uncomfortable."

"Besides, Ronniekins, Do you want to tell mum that we're going to have a guest over? That day. With no warning. At all." Fred asked.

Ron paled a bit.

"Not that she'd be mad that you were there, Harry." George added, "She'd just want to prepare things a bit first."

"Yeah, she'll love you." Fred agreed.

Draco was scowling again. "I suppose my parents will be the same way. But I'm going to have you over within two weeks!"

"We'll make it one!" Ron countered.

Lee leaned over to Harry and whispered, "Is it always a competition with them?"

Harry nodded, "Hermione or Shadow will stop them before it gets too out of hand."

"What about these two gits?" He gestured to the twins.

"Hey!" They snapped.

Harry snorted, "They place bets."

In the end, they decided that whoever's letter got to Harry first, would get him to their house first.

"Hermione, you'll come over too, right?" Ron said.

Hermione looked surprised. "I guess. I mean, if you want me to..."

"Of course we want you to." Draco snapped, "We're friends."

Hermione grinned.

Sirius wanted to hug the girl. Her anxiety wasn't quite as severe as Harry's, but she was still insecure. He doubted she'd really had friends before Hogwarts and was glad the boys had let her into the group.

The rest of the ride was nice. They joked around, speculated about the next year, and made plans for the summer. When the candy trolley came around, Harry and Draco made sure that everyone had something, including Sirius, who was fed a couple pumpkin pasties. They changed into their Muggle clothes as the train neared King's Cross. Once off the train, they could see a guard allowing people through the gate in twos and threes.

"Promise you won't forget to write?" Harry said.

"Of course we'll write!" Hermione hugged him, "See you later this summer, okay? Bye Shadow." She scratched his ears and ran over to a nice looking couple Sirius assumed were her parents.

"Draco!" A woman's voice called. Sirius turned. Narcissa was standing next to her husband, elegantly waving to her son. Lucius looked as disapproving as ever.

"Coming mother!" Draco called back. He turned back to Harry, "I'll write you tomorrow. Promise."

Harry grinned, "Tomorrow, then."

Draco walked over to his parents, trying to look at least somewhat dignified. Sirius only barely managed to keep from laughing.

Molly and Ginny Weasley were waiting near the Dursleys. Harry shyly thanked Molly for the sweater and fudge he'd gotten for Christmas.

"Oh, it was no trouble, dear. I'm glad you enjoyed them." She smiled.

"Ready, are you?" Vernon's voice was gruff. Sirius imagined it was because he was trying not to scream at all the "unordinary" people in King's Cross. Petunia and Dudley stood behind him. Both looked rather scared of Harry, which made Sirius happy.

Harry nodded.

"Oh, you must be Harry's family!" Molly said.

"In a manner of speaking," Vernon answered.

Sirius silently cheered when he saw the dark looks from Ron, Fred, and George.

"Hurry up, boy, we haven't got all day."

Harry nodded again and waved to his friends, all of whom put on bright smiles as they waved back. Sirius felt another surge of pride when he saw the look in the twins' eyes. He had no doubt that they would have something special in store for the Dursleys' the next time they saw each other.

In the car, Harry whispered to Sirius, "It's only for a week or two. Then I can go see my friends again. And during that week I've still got you." Harry's voice dropped a little more, "Right, Sirius?"

Sirius licked the boy's cheek. He had a point. Besides, summer was only a couple months long, and the Dursleys' didn't know Harry wasn't allowed to use magic. Sirius let his head rest in Harry's lap on the way to the house. Maybe this summer wouldn't be so bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Book one is over!! I'm hoping to have the first chapter for book two out by this time next month, but don't hold me to that. We all know how terrible I am at updating. Either way, it's almost time to introduce Luna! I plan to have her first appearance within the first five? chapters of book two, so we'll see how it goes.


	25. Book Two Begins

Sirius growled quietly. Vernon was yelling at Harry again. It was breakfast and Vernon had been woken in the early hours of the morning by the loud hooting noise from Harry's owl, Hedwig.

"Third time this week!" Vernon bellowed, "This is your last warning, boy! It's not as though you need two pets in the first place, perhaps it's time to get rid of that bloody thing."

"Shadow's not a pet." Harry mumbled, louder he added, "Please Uncle Vernon, she's just bored. If I could let her out, just for a while. Just at night..."

"Do I look stupid?" snarled Vernon, "I know what'll happen if that owl's let out!" He and Petunia exchanged a dark look.

Harry chewed his lower lip and scratched Sirius behind the ears. Dudley belched loudly and Sirius scrunched up his nose at the smell. The large boy hadn't brushed his teeth that morning. Sirius sighed again, the downfalls of a dog's nose.

"I want more bacon."

"Of course, sweetums. There's more in the frying pan." Petunia's eyes were misty as she looked at her son. Sirius liked to imagine it was because she'd just realized what a horrible brat she'd raised. "We really must build you up more while we can. I don't like the sound of that school food..."

Sirius yawned and closed his eyes. He really didn't need to he about Dudley's school and the kind of food served there again. He took pleasure in knowing that during school, Harry was the better fed one, and that was all he cared about. His eyes snapped back open when he heard Harry grumble, "You forgot the magic word."

The funny part was that Dudley fell out of his chair and Petunia looked on the verge of fainting. The not-funny part was when Vernon leapt out of his chair and started screaming.

"I-i m-meant please." Harry stammered.

"WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT SAYING THE 'M' WORD IN OUR HOUSE!"

Harry shank down in his chair, trembling. His hand slid into Sirius's fur. Sirius jumped up and started barking at Vernon, snarling when the man looked at him.

"HOW DARE YOU THREATEN DUDLEY!"

Sirius stepped closer to the man, still barking and growling.

"I WARNED YOU! I WILL NOT TOLERATE MENTION OF YOUR OTHER ABNORMALITY UNDER THIS ROOF!" Vernon seemed to noticed just how close Sirius had gotten to him. "GET THAT BLASTED DOG AWAY FROM ME!"

Sirius really wanted to bite the man's hand off, but Harry grabbed his collar and rushed out of the room. The boy pulled him up to his room and dropped onto his bed, sniffling a bit. Sirius nosed the door shut and changed form. He sat next to Harry and gently pulled his godson into his lap.

"Shh, it's alright. I've got you Harry. You're safe, you're loved, you're wanted. I won't let anything happen to you. It's going to be alright, little one."

Harry buried his face in Sirius's neck. "I didn't mean to set them off. I just-"

"I know. It's okay. You didn't do anything wrong." He tilted Harry's chin up so he could meet his eyes, "It's not your fault, they are the ones who overreacted. Alright?"

Harry swallowed and nodded.

"Thank you, Sirius. I know what I'd do if-"

"You'd survive." Sirius kissed his forehead, "You are your parents' child, after all. If I hadn't come along you'd have found some other way to get through everything."

Harry laughed softly. They stayed there, Harry in Sirius's arms, for a couple more minutes while Harry calmed down.

"Think you can face them again?"

Harry took a deep breath, "Yeah, I think so."

Sirius smiled and shifted back. He barked twice at Harry and pawed the door. The boy smiled, took another deep breath, and opened the door. 

The Dursley's were still at the table, going over plans for some dinner party. Sirius couldn't care less about it. He had plans of his own for that night. After all, it was Harry's birthday. Sirius had missed enough of them in the past, he was determined to make up for it.

"Now, at eight o'clock we should all be in position. Petunia you will be?" Vernon was saying.

"In the lounge," Petunia answered, "Waiting to welcome them graciously into our home."

Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Dudley?" Vernon prompted.

"I'll be waiting at the door." Dudley put on a foul, simpering smile, "May I take your coats, Mr. and Mrs. Mason?"

"They'll /love/ him!" Petunia squealed. Sirius laid down and put his paws over his ears. Harry covered his mouth to hide his grin.

Vernon rounded on Harry, acting as though the yelling episode hadn't happened, he said, "And you?"

"I'll be in my room, with Shadow, making no noise and pretending like I don't exist."

"Exactly," Vernon snarled, "I will lead them into the lounge, introduce you, Petunia, and pour them their drinks. Then at eight-fifteen-"

"I'll announce dinner." Petunia said promptly.

"And, Dudley, you'll say-"

"May I take you through to the dining room, Mrs. Mason?" Dudley offered his arm to an invisible woman. Sirius thought that if she accepted she must be absurdly polite or absurdly stupid.

"My perfect little gentlemen!" Petunia sniffed. Sirius caught Harry's gaze and rolled his eyes. Harry smiled a little.

"And you?" Vernon said viciously to Harry.

Any trace of the boy's smile was gone, "I'll be in my room, keeping Shadow quiet and pretending I'm not there."

"Precisely. Now, at dinner we should aim to get in a few good compliments. Petunia, dear, any ideas?"

"Vernon tells me you're a wonderful golfer, Mr. Mason.... Do tell me just where you bought your dress, Mrs Mason...." She gushed. Sirius yawned, couldn't she be a little more creative?

"Perfect. Dudley?"

"How about- 'We had to write an essay about our hero at school, Mr. Mason, and I wrote about you.'"

Petunia burst into tears and hugged her son. Harry ducked under the table so they won't see him laughing. Sirius snorted and licked Harry's cheek, pleased that the boy was smiling again.

"And you, boy?" Vernon snapped.

Harry stopped smiling and got out from under the table again, "I'll be in my room, making no noise and pretending I'm not there."

"Too right, you will." Vernon growled, "The Masons don't know anything about you and it's going to stay that way. And if that dog of yours tries something, it'll be straight to the pound. Understood?"

Harry dug his fingers into Sirius's fur and nodded.

Vernon turned back to his wife, "When dinner's over, you take Mrs. Mason back to the lounge for coffee and I'll bring the subject back around to drills. With any luck, I'll have the deal signed and sealed before the news at ten. We'll be shopping for a vacation home in Majorca this time tomorrow."

Sirius found himself hoping Vernon was right. Maybe while the Dursley's were busy in Majorca, Sirius could "kidnap" Harry. At least on the run with him the boy would be treated better. Sirius let himself daydream for a minute while Vernon snapped at Harry again, telling him to keep out of Petunia's way while she cleaned. As though he'd get in the way, the only reason they weren't making him do it was because they thought he'd use magic to get it done faster.

Harry tugged Sirius's leash to snap him out of it and the two slipped out the back door.

"Happy birthday to me." Harry sang quietly. Sirius licked his hand. He wished he'd been able to sneak out and get Harry a proper present. For some reason, none of the friends Harry had made last year had sent anything. No gifts, no invitations, no letters. Nothing, all summer. Sirius had no idea why. Harry had been extremely disappointed. Sirius had had to comfort him several times, reassuring his sobbing godson that he wasn't unlovable or unlikable. That it was their loss if they didn't want to be friends. Sirius was half tempted to send a Howler to each of them.

Harry flopped onto a bench in the garden with a sigh. Sirius knew he was probably obsessing again, but he couldn't tell him off for it as a dog and couldn't change back out in the open, it was irritating. Harry sat up suddenly, staring at a hedge. Sirius followed his line of sight and saw a pair of large eyes watching them. Sirius jumped up and started towards the hedge, but Harry called him back, clearly nervous. Sirius looked between the boy and the eyes in the hedge for a minute before walking back to the boy. If the thing in the hedge attacked, he'd take care of it.

Dudley came up to them after a few minutes with a smug smile, "I know what day it is."

"Congratulations." Harry said dryly. "You've finally learned the days of the week."

"Today's your birthday." Dudley sneered, "How come you haven't got any cards or anything? Don't you have friends at that freak school of yours?"

Sirius growled at him, Dudley backed away.

"Shadow, leave it." Harry deadpanned.

Dudley scowled, clearly displeased that he'd gotten a reaction from the dog and not its owner. "Why were you staring at the hedge?"

"I'm trying to decide which spell would be best to set it on fire." Sirius snorted quietly.

Dudley stumbled back, panicked, "You c-can't- Dad told you you're not to do m-magic- he said he'll chuck you out of the house- and you haven't got anywhere else to go. It's not like you've got friends to take you-"

Harry looked furious. He started snarling out complete gibberish. Dudley fled back into the house, screaming for his mother. Sirius jumped up and licked his cheek.

"He's right though." Harry whispered, "I thought I had friends, but-" He buried his face in Sirius's fur. 

Petunia called Harry back inside and the boy had to dodge a swing from a soapy frying pan as soon as he entered. Naturally, as neither the hedge nor Dudley were in any way injured, Petunia knew he hadn't really done magic, but it was clear she wasn't at all pleased. She put Harry to work and told him he wouldn't eat until it was done. As an extra punishment, she dragged Sirius to a rarely used kennel by the scruff and locked him inside. Harry protested loudly, but Petunia threatened to padlock him in the cage if Harry didn't get to work.

Petunia only allowed Harry to stop working and come back inside half an hour before the Masons were supposed to arrive. The woman had carefully placed newspapers along the path Harry would take to release Sirius and get to the stairs.

Harry practically ran to Sirius and let him out, hugging him. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

Sirius whined softly and nosed his cheek.

"Upstairs!" Petunia snapped.

Vernon glared at them as they started up, "Remember boy, one sound..."

Harry carefully slipped into his bedroom, Sirius close at his side. He could smell something else in the room with them. He looked around and sure enough, there was a house elf sitting on Harry's bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually would have had this out sooner, but it took me forever to find my copy of the second book and I didn't want to start without it.


	26. Dobby

Sirius tilted his head, confused. Why would a house elf come here? Unless... A small, hopeful part of Sirius hoped that the house elf belonged to Draco. That the boy had sent him with an apology, or at least an explanation as to why he hadn't written.

Harry and the house elf stared at each other for a couple minutes until the silence was finally broken by Dudley's voice coming up from the hall. "May I take your coats Mr. and Mrs. Mason?"

The elf jumped off the bed and bowed low enough that its nose brushed the ground.

Sirius nudged Harry. Harry swallowed, "Er- hello."

"Harry Potter!" Harry jumped slightly and glanced nervously at the door. The elf was loud. "So long has Dobby wanted to meet you, sir... Such an honor it is."

"Th-thank you." Harry slid into his desk chair and scratched Sirius's ears. "Um, who are you?"

"Dobby, sir. Dobby the house elf."

Harry nodded slowly and looked down at Sirius, who rolled his eyes before walking over and sniffing at Dobby. The house elf stared at him with wide eyes.

"Oh, um. Shadow's just making sure that you're, um, nice? That you aren't here to hurt any... thing."

"Dobby would never!" Dobby gasped.

Petunia's high false laugh sounded from the living room.

"Dobby, I'm really sorry, but now's not- it's not the best time." Harry said weakly.

Dobby hung his head.

Harry chewed his lower lip, "I-it's not that I'm not pleased to meet you, but, uh, why did you come?"

"Dobby has come to tell you, sir... it is difficult, sir... Dobby wonders where to begin."

"Oh, uh. Why don't you sit down?" Harry offered. The elf's eyes widened again and he burst into very noisy tears. Sirius jumped on him, growling softly. Dobby stopped crying and whimpered softly instead.

"Shadow!" Harry hissed, "Get off him."

Sirius huffed and jumped off, returning to Harry's side.

"I'm sorry, Dobby. It's just that, it's really important that we're quiet. I didn't mean to offend you or anything."

"Offend Dobby!" he choked, "Dobby has never been asked to sit down by a wizard- like an equal-"

Harry smiled a little, trying to cheer the elf up, "You can't have met many decent wizards then."

Dobby shook his head, then jumped up and started slamming his head on the window, "Bad Dobby!"

Sirius leapt forward and dragged the elf back to the bed while Harry whispered, "Dobby, quiet please!"

"Dobby is sorry, sir. He had to punish himself." he said, slightly cross-eyed, "Dobby almost spoke ill of his family, sir."

"Your family?" Harry frowned. Sirius leaned forward a little, silently hoping that Dobby would say the name of his family. Kreacher had always been proud to serve the "ancient and noble House of Black." He'd told anyone who asked. Then again, Dobby didn't seem much like Kreacher.

"The wizard family Dobby serves, sir... Dobby is a house elf- bound to serve one house and one family forever..."

Sirius sighed. Apparently Dobby wasn't as thrilled about the family he served as Kreacher was.

"Do they know you're here?" Harry asked.

Dobby shuddered. "Oh, no, sir, no... Dobby will have to punish himself most grievously for coming to see you, sir. Dobby will have to shut his ears in the oven door for this. If they ever knew-"

"But won't they notice? If you shut your ears in the oven door, I mean."

"Dobby doubts it, sir. Dobby is always having to punish himself for something, sir. They lets Dobby get on with it. Sometimes they remind Dobby to do extra punishments..."

"Then, why don't you leave? Escape?"

"A house elf must be set free, sir. And the family will never set Dobby free... Dobby will serve the family until he dies, sir..."

Sirius wanted to shake the elf and scream 'What family!" He needed to know.

"That makes the Dursleys sound almost human." Harry leaned forward a little, clearly concerned, "Is there anything I could do to help?"

Dobby dissolved into wails of gratitude. Sirius jumped on him again while Harry started whispering frantically.

"Please, please be quiet. If the Dursleys hear anything, if they know you're here-"

Dobby had gotten a little quieter with Sirius sitting on him, but still sobbed, "Harry Potter asks if he can help Dobby... Dobby has heard of your greatness, sir, but of your goodness Dobby never knew..."

Harry blushed, "Whatever you've heard about my greatness is a load of rubbish. I can barely get through a conversation with someone knew without Shadow around. I'm not even top of my year at Hogwarts; that's Hermione, she-"

He cut himself off. Sirius whined softly, he knew it was painful, thinking about the friends he'd made last year.

"Harry Potter is humble and modest," Dobby insisted. He hadn't even tried to get out from under Sirius yet. "Harry Potter speaks not of his triumph over He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named--"

"Voldemort." Harry corrected.

Dobby let his head drop onto the floor and clapped his hands over his ears, "Speak not the name, sir! Speak not the name!" Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Sorry," Harry said quickly, "Shadow, you can let him up now."

Sirius huffed and got up. Dobby jumped to his feet and leaned toward Harry, "Dobby heard tell that Harry Potter met the Dark Lord for a second time, just weeks ago... that Harry Potter escaped yet again."

Harry nodded, Dobby looked about ready to start crying again. He dabbed his eyes with a corner of the pillowcase he was wearing. "Harry Potter is valiant and bold. He has faced so many dangers already. But Dobby has come to protect Harry Potter. To warn him, even if he does have to shut his ears in the oven door later... Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts."

"W-what?" Harry sank from his chair to the floor, his arm sliding around Sirius. "I have to go back. I-it's all that's keeping me going. I c-can't stay here. I d-don't belong here. E-even if they a-aren't-"

Harry's other arm wrapped around Sirius, hugging him tight. Sirius rested his head on Harry's shoulder, worried. What had he meant, 'it's all that keeping me going'? Harry wasn't suicidal, right? He probably meant, 'all that's keeping me here'. That was it. Sirius was just worrying too much. Probably.

Dobby was shaking his head, "Harry Potter must stay where he is safe. He is too great, too good, to lose. If Harry Potter goes back to Hogwarts, he will be in mortal danger."

The urge to grab the elf and shake him came back in full force. He was sure Harry appreciated the compliments, but Sirius would appreciate it a lot more if Dobby stopped dancing around the subject and just told him who was endangering his godson!

Harry looked up, "Why?"

"There is a plot." Dobby answered, "A plot to make most terrible things happen at Hogwarts this year. Dobby has known it for months, sir. Harry Potter must not put himself in peril. He is too important, sir."

"'M not that important." The boy mumbled. He cleared his throat slightly, "What things? Who's plotting them?"

Dobby made an odd choking noise and moved toward the wall Sirius jumped in the way and snarled at the thing. /Just tell us, damn it!/

"You can't tell me. Got it." Harry sighed, "But why are you warning me? Please tell me this hasn't got anything to do with Vol- er- You-Know-Who? Just shake or nod."

Slowly, Dobby shook his head.

"He hasn't got a brother, has he?"

Sirius snorted. Dobby shook his head again.

"Look, I don't feel much like guessing at the moment. Can you tell me anything without banging your head on the wall?"

Dobby flinched slightly. "Dobby is sorry, sir. But it is most important that Harry Potter not return to school."

Harry sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "I have to go back, Dobby. It's the only place I've got- or at least I thought I had- friends."

"Friends who do not even write to Harry Potter?"

Sirius started growling again. Had the house elf been stealing Harry's letters?

Harry's eyes went from Dobby to Sirius and back. "How did you know they haven't been writing?"

Dobby shuffled his feet, "Harry Potter mustn't be angry with Dobby. Dobby did it for the best."

Sirius's growling go louder. For the best? Dobby didn't have a clue! He had no idea how many nights Sirius had spent comforting Harry because he thought his only friends didn't care about him anymore. That stupid elf had caused so many anxiety attacks, so much heartbreak, and he had the gall to say it was for the best! It took all of Sirius's self control not to tear the damned elf's throat out then and there.

"You're the reason... You took my letters!"

"Dobby has them here, sir." Dobby jumped as far from both Harry and Sirius as he could manage and took out a thick wad of letters. "Harry Potter mustn't be angry... Dobby hoped... if Harry Potter thought his friends had forgotten him... Harry Potter might not want to go back to school, sir..."

Harry made a grab for the letters, Dobby dodged him, but forgot about Sirius. Sirius grabbed the letters and growled again. Dobby yelped and tried to pull them away. Sirius held on for another minute before letting go and tackling him instead.

"Give me my letters, and I'll have Shadow let you go." Harry said, holding a hand out.

"Dobby will give them back if Harry Potter gives his word, that he won't go back to Hogwarts." Dobby answered.

Sirius put his teeth on Dobby's throat. Dobby gulped and handed Harry the letters.

"Shadow, off." Reluctantly, Sirius released him.

"Dobby is sorry, sir, But Harry Potter left him no choice." Dobby pulled the door open and ran out.

"Shadow, hide these!" Harry tossed him the letters and ran after Dobby. Sirius sighed, hid the letters under a loose floorboard, and trotted after Harry.

\-----------------------line break-----------------------------

Had the situation been different Sirius would have laughed his head off. As a Marauder he could recognize that dropping a massive pudding on someone's head was a funny, if amateur, prank. However, when said pudding was made by terrible relatives and dropped a house guest of those terrible relatives, it wasn't such a great idea. Especially when you got caught. Even if you hadn't been the one to drop the pudding. 

Now, Harry, Sirius, and Hedwig were all locked in Harry's room. Harry and Sirius were let out once in the morning and once in the evening to use the bathroom and that was it. Thanks to Dobby's brilliant plan to "protect" Harry, not only had he been locked in his room, but he'd also received a letter from the Improper Use of Magic Office in the Ministry, warning him about using magic around Muggles. Which meant the Dursleys now knew Harry couldn't use magic. Hence the locks on Harry's door going from the top of the door to the floor and the bars on his window. A cat flap had been installed so they could slid meals in. /Thanks Dobby, he's real safe now./

The only good thing about everything was that Sirius could stay in human form most of the day. He and Harry read the letters his friends had sent. Harry was pleased that they hadn't forgotten him after all. Ron, Hermione, the twins, Draco, Lee, even Hagrid had written him at various times over the summer. They also talked about Harry's parents. Sirius was more than happy to share stories from when the Marauders had ruled over Hogwarts. He tried to stick to the lighter stories, ones that didn't have much to do with the war.

"Do you think they'll send someone?" It had been three days and they'd had 'dinner' (read stone cold soup and a handful of kibble).

"Who?" Sirius asked absently. He was trying to manually pick the lock on Hedwig's cage with one of Petunia's bobby pins, which he'd stolen during their last bathroom break. He was really out of practice.

"Hogwarts. Do you think they'll send someone when I don't come back."

Sirius hummed, he almost had it, "I wouldn't count out going back just yet, pup. Your friends are stubborn, and as much as I've disliked Malfoys in the past, they do have quite a bit of sway in the Ministry. No way will Draco let you rot here. That is, if Fred and George don't come get you first. Never give up on a prankster, Harry. We are a very loyal bunch." Peter popped into Sirius's mind, "Uh, most of us, anyway."

"You know, eventually you're going to have to tell me whatever you're thinking of when you do that."

"Do what?"

Harry rolled his eyes, "You know, you'll say something, then get this weird look and correct yourself."

Sirius dropped the bobby pin, he gave up. He'd try again tomorrow. "I said I'd tell you everything, didn't I? I'll tell you about that too, just, not now. Okay?"

Harry smiled at him, "Okay. I'm tired," Harry held out both hands. Sirius smiled back and dropped next to the boy. He kissed Harry's forehead and shifted into his Animagus form. It was warmer that way. "Goodnight."

\----------------------line break---------------------------

Sirius was woken in the middle of the night by the sound of something rattling the bars on Harry's window. He slipped out of Harry's arms and looked out to see what it was, staying in dog form, just in case.

"Hey, Shadow." Ron Weasley grinned at him. "Can you get Harry for us boy?"

"I doubt that's a command he knows, Ron." Fred hissed.

"Just hurry up. Harry needs to be ready to go before we can get the bars off." George said. "We'll get caught otherwise."

Ron rolled his eyes and reached out to shake the bars again. Sirius ran over to Harry and nosed him awake.

"What is it?" Harry yawned. He froze when he saw who was in the window. "Ron? Fred? George? I don't- how?"

"Tell you later." Ron answered, "Grab your things, hurry. We're breaking you out."


	27. Flying Car

Harry stared at the car, parked in midair outside his window, with shock. "You- When did-"

"Hi, Harry." George grinned, "You alright? We haven't heard from you all summer."

"Yeah!" Ron said, "I asked you to come over like, twelve times. I even wrote Draco, but he said he hadn't heard from you either. Then Dad came home and said you'd gotten an official warning for using magic in front of Muggles-"

"It wasn't me!" Harry cut in quickly, "There was this house elf thing, and- How did he even know I'd gotten a warning?"

"He works for the Ministry." Fred answered, "What house elf?"

Sirius yipped softly. They could catch up later. Every minute they spent here talking was another minute they could get caught.

"Right." Ron smiled, "Catch up later."

The twins nodded. Fred tossed a bit of rope to Harry, "Tie that around the bars."

Harry did as he was told, whispering, "If this wakes up the Dursleys, I'm dead."

"Don't worry so much." Fred said, "Stand back."

Harry grabbed Sirius's collar and moved back next to Hedwig. Thankfully, the owl had been still and silent thus far. The car revved and, with a crunching noise, the bars were pulled clean off the window as Fred drove the car straight up in the air. Sirius flinched at the noise and listened for movement from the Dursleys while Harry ran back to the window. After a minute or so of nothing, he decided that they hadn't woken and joined Harry and his friends. Ron had just finished pulling the bars up and into the backseat. Fred carefully pulled the car as close to the window as possible.

"Get in." Ron looked pretty proud of himself.

"But all my Hogwarts stuff- my wand and books and things-"

"Where are they?"

"Locked in the cupboard under the stairs, and I can't get out of this room-"

"Not a problem," George said. "Move over."

Harry frowned, but moved back again as Fred and George slipped into the room. George pulled out a hairpin and picked the lock on the door. Harry and Sirius shared a look. After all, that had been Sirius's plan. He'd just been too out of practice to do it right.

"A lot of wizards think it's a waste of time, knowing this sort of Muggle trick," Fred told them, "but we feel they're skills worth learning even if they are a bit slow."

/They are fantastic Marauders./ Sirius thought, /I wonder where they get it from./

There was a small click and the door swung open.

"So, we'll get your trunk, you grab anything you'll need from here and hand it out to Ron, okay?" George whispered.

Harry nodded, "Be careful of the bottom stair, it creaks."

Sirius helped Harry get his things together and held perfectly still when Harry put his service dog jacket on. The twins came back with Harry's trunk as Harry handed the last of his things to Ron. Sirius growled softly, he could hear Vernon shifting around in his room. They needed to hurry. Thankfully, all that was left was the trunk- currently being pushed out the window by Harry and the twins- and Hedwig. Then Sirius and Harry could finally get in the car and out of this house!

"Almost there," Fred grunted, "Just a bit more."

With one final push, the trunk slid out the window and into the car.

"Okay," George panted, "Let's go."

"Shadow, in." Harry pointed at the car. Sirius leapt over and landed half on Ron. Hedwig screeched, no doubt thinking she was going to be left behind. Harry ran back for her as a different screech rang through the house.

"THAT RUDDY OWL!"

Harry passed Hedwig's cage out to Ron as Vernon crashed through the door. Sirius barked and grabbed the sleeve of Harry's shirt in his teeth, trying to tug him into the car faster. Vernon had frozen in the doorway for a second before he dove forward with an enraged scream and grabbed Harry's ankle. Ron, Fred, and George seized Harry's arms. Sirius let go of his sleeve and moved out of the way as the boys pulled.

"Petunia!" Vernon yelled, "He's getting away! HE'S GETTING AWAY!"

Sirius managed to get in a position to lean out of the car a bit. He snapped at Vernon's hand. The man instinctively flinched back, his grip on Harry's loosened and the Weasley boys yanked him into the car. Sirius moved again so Harry could slam the door shut.

"Step on it!" Ron shouted, and the car shot off and away from the house.

Harry rolled down the window and turned back towards the dumbstruck Dursleys with a grin, "See you next summer!"

The other boys roared with laughter.

"Hey George, can you let Hedwig out? She hasn't had the chance to stretch her wings in ages."

George turned and a moment later Hedwig soared out the window and was gliding along next to them. Sirius sighed, maybe he needed a refresher course as well as more practice.

"So," Ron said impatiently, "what's the story? What happened to you this summer?"

Harry told them all about Dobby, the warning, and the pudding incident. Shocked silence filled the car by the time he was finished.

After a couple of minutes, George broke the silence. "Very dodgy."

"Definitely." Fred agreed, "He really wouldn't tell you who's supposed to be plotting all this stuff?"

Harry shook his head, "I'm not sure he could. Every time he came close to letting something slip, he'd start banging his head on the wall."

The twins shared a look.

"You don't think he was lying, do you?" Harry frowned.

Fred sighed, "House elves have some pretty powerful magic, but they can't use it without their master's permission. I reckon old Dobby was sent to keep you from going back to Hogwarts. Could be someone's idea of a joke or something."

"Zabini!" Ron hissed.

"Maybe." George agreed, "I don't know if they've got any house elves, though." He snorted, "If I didn't know any better, I'd think it was Draco."

"George!" Harry scowled, "Draco's our friend, he wouldn't do this. Right?"

"Right." George looked back at them, "But we have heard our dad talking about the Malfoys. Draco's dad was a big supporter of You-Know-Who."

"That-"

"I'm not saying Draco is!" he said quickly, "Just that his dad was. So, under other circumstances, I'd have suspected him."

"But you don't now, right?" Harry prompted.

"Of course not."

"Good."

"He might know who sent the 'message.'" Fred mused, "The Malfoys are an old wizarding family, and their rich. Draco's bound to have a suspect pool at least."

Sirius sighed. It was doubtful Draco would know who Dobby belonged to. Judging by the way he'd acted, he wasn't likely around guests much. Besides, most families didn't care what other people's house elves were /named/, all that mattered was how many other people /had/.

Ron nodded, "We can write him when we get home. He'll be so jealous since I got to you first. We were really worried about you. At first I thought it was just Errol's fault-"

"Who's Errol?"

"Family owl." Fred said.

"He's ancient." George added.

"He's gotten lost delivering letters before." Ron sighed, "So, I tried to borrow Percy's owl, Hermes, but he wouldn't let me! Kept saying he needed him. Like it would kill him if I borrowed his owl for a day to make sure one of my best friends was still alive!"

George turned to look at them, "I think old Percy's got a girlfriend. He's been sending an awful lot of letters and spent most of the summer holed up in his room. I mean, there's only so many times you can polish a prefect's badge."

Sirius snorted, Harry nudged him with his toes. A silent reminder to keep from doing anything suspicious. Just in case. Sirius thought it was sweet of Harry to worry about him being discovered. Unnecessary, but sweet.

"So, what does your dad do in the Ministry?"

"He works in the most boring department." Ron said, "The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office."

"Ookay, and that does...?"

"It's all to do with bewitching things that are Muggle-made, you know, in case they end up back in a Muggle shop or house. Like, last year, some old witch died and her old tea set was sold to an antiques shop. This Muggle woman bought it, took it home, and tried to serve her friends tea in it. It was a nightmare. The teapot went berserk and squirted boiling tea all over the place. One man had to go to the hospital with the sugar tongs clamped to his nose. Dad was working overtime for weeks cleaning up that mess."

Sirius snorted again and again, Harry gave him a gentle nudge.

"That doesn't sound too boring." Harry frowned, "Wait- this car..."

Fred laughed, "Yeah. Dad's crazy about Muggle stuff. He takes it apart, puts spells on it, and puts it back together. If he raided /our/ house, he'd have to put himself under arrest. It drives Mum mad."

"It's getting light." George noted, "Good thing it's only another ten minutes."

Fred brought the car lower. Sirius put his paws on Harry's lap so he could see out the window. A patchwork of fields and trees passed below them.

"We're a little way outside the village." George said, "Ottery St. Catchpole."

A minute later there was a slight bump and Fred yelled, "Touchdown!" He was grinning as he turned back to look at Harry, "Welcome to the Burrow."


	28. The Weasley House

Sirius was pretty much certain that the Weasley's house was held up by a ton of magic. It was several stories high, crooked, and had a few chimneys perched on the roof. Near the entrance was a lopsided sign the read, "The Burrow." A jumble of rubber boots and a rusty cauldron were scattered around the front door. Several fat brown chickens were pecking their way around the yard. He loved it, partially because he could almost hear his mother's horrified shriek at the sight of the place.

"It's not much," Ron admitted.

"It's wonderful." Harry corrected, grinning.

"Come on." Fred said, "We'll have to be really quiet going upstairs, then when Mum calls us down for breakfast, Ron, you go bounding downstairs going, 'Mum look who turned up in the night!' and she'll be so pleased to see Harry that no one needs to know we flew the car. Agreed?"

George and Ron nodded. Harry started chewing his lower lip.

"Are you sure this is all right? I don't want you getting into trouble or anything."

"It's fine." George insisted, "Worst case, Mum yells at us three and you stick around til school starts. She won't be mad at you."

"Um, consider this worst case." Ron was staring at the house looking a little green.

Molly Weasley was marching across the yard towards them, scattering the chickens. For such a small, plump, kind-faced woman, it was remarkable how much she looked like a saber-toothed tiger.

"Oh, dear." George said. Fred gulped.

Molly came to a halt in front of them, looking from one guilty face to the next with her hands on her hips. Her wand stuck out of her apron pocket. Sirius was suddenly reminded of his own mother's anger and proceeded to thank every star he could think of, individually, that the Weasley's were nothing like his family.

"So," she said.

"Morning, Mum." George tried for a jovial, winning voice.

"Have you any idea how worried I've been?" She spoke in a deadly whisper.

"Sorry, Mum, but see, we had to-"

The three Weasley boys cowered as Molly cut them off, this time in a yell.

"BEDS EMPTY! NO NOTE! CAR GONE-/could have crashed/- out of my mind with worry! Did you care? Never, as long as I've lived- you wait until your father gets home. We never had trouble like this from Bill or Charlie or Percy-"

"Perfect Percy." muttered Fred.

"YOU COULD DO WITH TAKING A LEAF OUT OF PERCY'S BOOK!!" She turned to Harry, who looked terrified. "Now I don't blame you, Harry dear. It is lovely to see you."

Molly rounded on her sons again, "You could've /died/, you could've been /seen/, you could've lost you father his /job/-"

She went on for what felt like forever, occasionally she would pause shouting at her sons to reassure Harry that none of this was his fault. Sirius was grateful to her for that. Once Molly had shouted herself hoarse she turned to Harry again.

"Come in, and have some breakfast. You must be starving."

Harry shot a nervous look at his friends, who all gave him encouraging nods, and followed Molly inside.

"Did you bring any dog food with you?" Molly asked.

Harry sighed, "No, I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"It's alright." she told him, "Are eggs and sausages alright for him?"

He nodded.

The kitchen was small and rather cramped. Harry looked at everything in awe. He'd never been in a wizard house before. The clock, the books, everything was sort of new to him. Sirius found himself watching Harry almost as eagerly as Harry was watching Molly cook.

Molly tipped eight or nine sausages onto Harry's plate and another five onto another which she set on the ground for Sirius, "Arthur and I have been very worried about you, you know. Just last night we were saying that we'd come get you ourselves if you hadn't written Ron back by Friday. But really," she added three fried eyes to Harry's and Sirius's plates, "flying an illegal car halfway across the country- anyone could have seen you-"

"It was cloudy, Mum!" Fred protested.

"You keep your mouth closed while you're eating!" Molly snapped.

"They were starving him, Mum!" George tried.

"And you!" Her expression softened and started cutting and buttering some bread for Harry.

At that moment a small red-headed figure in a long nightdress appeared in the kitchen, gave a small squeal, and ran out again.

"Ginny," Ron explained quietly, "My sister. She's been talking about you all summer."

Fred grinned at him, "Yeah, she'll be want your autograph, Harry." Molly frowned at him and he bent back over his plate without another word. It stayed quiet until everyone had finished eating, which took a surprisingly short amount of time. (Harry had slipped quite a bit of his food to Sirius, if he'd eaten everything on his plate, he'd probably have been sick.)

"Blimey, I'm tired." Fred yawned as he set down his fork. "I think I'll go to bed and-"

"You'll do no such thing." Molly snapped, "It's your own fault you've been up all night. You're going to de-gnome the garden for me; they're getting completely out of hand again."

"Oh, Mum-"

"And you two," she said, glaring at Ron and George, "are going to help. You can go up to bed, dear." She added to Harry. "You didn't ask them to fly that wretched car-"

"I'd like to help." Harry said. "I've never seen a de-gnoming."

"That's very sweet of you, dear, but it's dull work. Now, let's see what Lockhart's got to say on the subject." She stood and pulled a heavy book from the stack on the mantelpiece.

George groaned, "Mum, we know how to de-gnome a garden."

Harry glanced down at Sirius, curious. Sirius shook his head, just a little. He'd never heard of Lockhart, and he'd never had to de-gnome anything. Harry turned to look at the book Molly was looking over.

"Oh, he is marvelous," she said. "He knows his household pests, all right, it's a wonderful book..."

Sirius rolled his eyes. /Yes, it certainly sounds as though the book's all you're interested in./

Sure enough, Fred stage whispered, "Mum fancies him."

"Don't be so ridiculous, Fred." Molly's cheeks had turned pink. "All right, if you think you know better than Lockhart, you can go and get on with it, and woe betide you if there's a single gnome in that garden when I come out to inspect it."

Yawning and grumbling, the Weasley boys slouched outside, Harry and Sirius in tow. Once the boys had crossed the lawn, Harry took off Sirius's jacket whispering, "Sorry. Why don't you sleep some? I'll be fine."

Sirius licked his cheek, yawned, and stretched out on the grass. He watched the boys chuck gnomes over the hedges for a minute before letting his eyes fall closed.

"Shadow. Come on, boy, it's time to go in." Harry was shaking him.

Sirius looked up at him, accusing.

"Hey, I didn't decide. We're finished and Mr. Weasley's home. Come on, you can sleep just as well inside." With that Harry turned and started back towards the house.

The Animagus yawned and stretched before trotting after his godson.

Arthur had sat down and was pouring himself some tea and they came in. The other boys were already settling around him. Sirius was amazed. Arthur Weasley was going bald! Which meant he absolutely would've won that bet with James. He sighed to himself, yet another reason he missed his best friends.

"Nine raids. Nine!" Arthur was saying. "And old Mundungus Fletcher tried to put a hex on me when my back was turned..."

Sirius curled up at Harry's feet and started to fall back to sleep. Unfortunately, it didn't last as he was jerked back to the waking world when Molly's voice yelled, "LIKE CARS, FOR INSTANCE?"

Harry smiled apologetically when Sirius looked up at him in betrayal. He huffed and lay down again, hoping for just a couple more minutes. Molly, however, had different plans as she argued with her husband. Sirius was half tempted to return to his human form so he could tell her to shut up and let him sleep, damn it!

Finally, Ron offered to show Harry his room and leave his parents to their fight.

Sirius followed them up far too many stairs, ignoring the boys' conversation, until they reached Ron's room. He dropped onto the rug, barely noticing the bright orange room or the weirdly familiar, yet out of place scent, and fell asleep almost immediately. His last waking thought was that if anyone woke him up within the next few hours, he'd bite their hand off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone know what Sirius was smelling at the end? I mean, probably most of you, but it's about time I mentioned him, right?


	29. Book Shopping

Harry loved the Burrow. Not only were signs of magic everywhere, but everyone liked him. Molly fussed over him and tried to serve him fourth helping of every meal. Arthur bombarded him with questions about life with Muggles. He was well fed, no one yelled at or belittled him, and Sirius hadn't had his tail stepped on since their arrival.

One sunny morning about a week after they'd arrived they heard from Hogwarts. Ron, Harry, and Sirius went down to breakfast to find Molly, Arthur, and Ginny already sitting at the table. Ginny knocked her bowl onto the floor with a loud clatter. She dove under the table to retrieve it, her face bright red as she emerged. Sirius had noticed that things like that often happened to Ginny when Harry was around. He knew why of course, but hoped that her little crush would go away as she got to know Harry as a real person, instead of just a story. Harry pretended not to notice Ginny's mini-freak out and sat down next to Ron. 

"Letters from school." Arthur said once Harry had given Sirius his breakfast. "Dumbledore already knows you're here, Harry, so don't worry. Doesn't miss a trick, that man." 

Fred and George ambled in a moment later, still in their pajamas and rubbing sleep from their eyes. There was a brief fight about who would sit on Harry's free side, which Arthur put a stop to before handing them their letters. 

After a couple minutes of silence while the boys read their letters, Fred asked, "Was everyone told to get all Lockhart's books too, or was it just me?" 

"Pretty sure it's all of us." Ron sighed. 

"New Defense teacher must be a fan." George said. "These won't come cheap, though. Lockhart's books are really expensive." 

"Well, we'll manage." Molly said, though she looked pretty worried. "I expect we'll be able to pick up a lot of Ginny's things secondhand." 

Harry turned towards the youngest Weasley, "So, you're starting Hogwarts this year?" 

She turned red as her hair again, nodded, and put her elbow in the butter dish. Sirius couldn't help but be amused. Fortunately for the girl, Percy's appearance distracted almost everyone from her mistake. He, unlike all his siblings and Harry, was already dressed, Hogwarts prefect badge pinned to his sweater vest. Sirius rolled his eyes. Who was he trying to impress? School wouldn't start for another couple of weeks, so why bother wearing the stupid badge? 

"Morning, all." Percy said briskly, "Lovely day." 

He sat in the only remaining chair, just to leap up again a second later. An old, battered, grey owl was lying in the chair, a letter hidden under its wing. 

"Errol!" Ron scooped the owl up and pulled the letter out, "It's about time. I wrote Draco saying we were going to try and rescue you from the Dursley's. I'd've written Hermione too, but I wasn't sure he could manage two trips and thought Draco would have a better owl to tell her." 

He carried Errol to a perch by the back door and tried to stand him on it, but the bird flopped over the second he let go. Sirius snorted softly. Ron set the owl on the draining board instead muttering, "Pathetic." The he tore open Draco's letter and read aloud: 

"'Dear Ron, twins, and Harry, if you're there, I hope everything went all right and that Harry's okay. If he's not, it had better be the absolute first thing in your response. And I mean first thing. Don't even put my name first if something's gone wrong. Naturally, that includes if any of you were dumb enough to do something illegal to get Harry out.'- Nice to know he's got so much faith in us." Ron rolled his eyes, "'I've told Hermione what you were planning, so don't bother sending an owl to her, and when you owl me, perhaps you should use a different one? One more trip might finish off yours. Hermione and I are going to meet in Diagon Alley next Wednesday. We are waiting to hear from you to finalize the time, but it looks like we'll meet in Flourish and Blotts to get books and go on from there. Let me know everything as soon as you can. Awaiting your answer, Draco.'" 

"Well, that fits in nicely, we can go and get your things then too." Molly said. She started to clear the table. 

"Mum, since Scabbers has been feeling better, can I bring him this year?" Ron asked. 

"Scabbers?" Harry frowned. 

"My pet rat." Ron explained, "He was really sick beginning of last year, so I had to leave him at home." 

"He doesn't seem much of a fan of dogs, so he's been hiding in our room the last few days." Fred added. 

"Oh." 

"Mum?" 

"I suppose. So long as he doesn't get sick again. And you can't fall behind on your studies." 

"Yes, Mum." 

\---------------------line break----------------- 

Molly woke them all early the following Wednesday. After a quick breakfast, they pulled on their coats and Molly took a flowerpot off the kitchen mantelpiece. 

'Floo powder.' Sirius thought, 'I wonder if I'll be more sick as a dog, or less.' 

"Guests first!" Molly offered Harry the pot, "After you, dear." 

Harry looked pretty nervous, "W-what am I s-supposed to do?" 

"He's never traveled by Floo powder, right Harry?" Ron said. Harry shook his head, fidgeting. "Sorry, mate. I forgot." 

"Never?" Arthur asked, "How did you get to Diagon Alley last year?" 

"Um, the Underground?" 

"Really?" Arthur leaned forward, eager, "Were there escapators? How exactly-" 

"Not now, Arthur." Molly said, "Floo powder's a lot quicker, but goodness me, if you've never used it before-" 

"He'll be alright, Mum." Fred told her. He turned to Harry with a reassuring smile, "Watch us first, alright, Harry?" 

He nodded. 

Fred took a pinch of the powder from the pot and tossed it into the fire. Once the flames turned an emerald green, he stepped in and shouted, "Diagon Alley!" Then, he vanished. 

"You must speak clearly, dear." Molly told Harry as George took a pinch of powder. "And be sure to get out the right grate..." 

"Will Shadow be okay?" Harry was watching George's disappearance nervously. 

"He'll be fine. Keep him close though, just in case." 

"And keep your elbows tucked in." Ron offered. 

"And your eyes shut. You don't want soot in them." Molly added. 

"Don't fidget. Or you might fall out the wrong fireplace." 

"But don't panic and get out early; wait until you see Fred and George." 

Harry looked down at Sirius, who gave him a tiny nod. He took a deep breath and got a pinch of Floo powder. Sirius followed him into the flames and closed his eyes. He looked up at Harry sharply when the boy coughed, "D-Dia-gon Alley." 

Sirius pressed against Harry's leg and tried to look for the Weasley's through his lashes as various grates flew past. However, when they fell out of the fire it was in the wrong place. Sirius managed to keep his godson from falling on his face, but only barely. Looking around, Sirius got a sinking feeling in his gut. He'd never spent a ton of time in Nocturne Alley, but, thanks to his family, he could recognize it through the dirty windows of the dimly lit shop. 

Harry relaxed a little when he caught sight of a familiar face in the window. Draco. His father was with him. While Harry was relieved, Sirius was suspicious. He knew that Draco didn't take after his father, but Lucius was still a Death Eater in Sirius's book. There was nothing that would change that. Harry rushed out to meet them with Sirius at his side. 

"Draco! Thank goodness." 

"Harry? What are you doing here?" Draco stepped forward and brushed soot off Harry's shoulders. Lucius cleared his throat, giving Draco a pointed look. The boy took a quick step back. 

"Um, i-it was my first t-time using Floo p-powder? I kind of g-got lost." 

Lucius looked down at them with barely concealed disdain. Sirius was suddenly tempted to rub the dirt on his fur all over Malfoy's precious robes. "Draco. Since your... friend is here, you may wait outside with him." 

"But, Father-" 

Lucius glared at him and swept inside. 

"I'm glad the rescue mission went well." Draco said. 

"Me too. I hate going back there." 

"I was going to come myself, you know. They just..." 

"Beat you to it?" 

"Yeah." Draco sighed and shuffled his feet a little. "Ron said something about a house elf stealing your letters?" 

"Right! We were kind of hoping you might know who he, um, belonged to? That way we can figure out how reliable his warning is." 

Draco frowned, "I don't know the names of every house elf, you know." At Harry's disappointed expression, Draco groaned. "Maybe I can find out? What was its name?" 

Harry brightened, "He said his name was-" 

Lucius rejoined the boys, and Harry fell silent. "Come along. We still need to meet with your other classmates."

"Father," Draco said tentatively, "Would you fix Harry's glasses? Please?" 

The older Malfoy scowled, but flicked his wand at Harry anyway. Harry thanked him as they hurried to catch up. 

It didn't take long before they reached Diagon Alley. Lucius steered them towards Gringotts in silence. Draco hadn't spoken since his father had fixed Harry's glasses and Harry followed his lead. Sirius could tell how uncomfortable he was around Lucius, which was really a blessing of sorts. Trustworthy as Draco was, his father was bad news, and Sirius wanted to keep Harry as far away from the man as he could. 

"Harry, Draco! Over here!" 

Sirius relaxed. He had a hard time seeing over the crowd, but he had been able to recognize Hermione's voice. Sure enough, a moment later she came running up to them. Lucius's disgust returned in full force, though Draco didn't seem to notice it. 

"I'm so happy to see you two! Are you coming into Gringotts?" 

Harry shifted, "I should find the Weasleys first. They're probably worried." 

"Isn't that them?" Draco pointed. 

Harry, Hermione, and Sirius all turned to look. Sprinting up the crowded street was Arthur, Percy, the twins, and Ron. 

"Marvelous." Lucius muttered, rolling his eyes. 

"Harry," Arthur panted, "We hoped you'd only gone one grate too far... Molly's frantic- she's coming now-" 

"Where'd you come out?" Ron asked. 

"Knockturn Alley." He glanced at Draco to be sure he'd gotten the name right. The other boy nodded, grimly. 

"Wicked!" Fred and George said in unison. 

"We've never been allowed in." Ron sighed. 

"You're not missing out on much," Draco told him, "Mostly, it's just dirty, with creepier people about." 

As the kids talked, Arthur and Lucius stood by, glaring at each other without actually speaking. The silent staring contest went on for a couple of minutes before Molly came running up to the group and immediately began fussing over Harry. 

"Come along, Draco. You can see your... friends again later." They had just entered Gringotts and Lucius had caught sight of Hermione's parents. 

"But-" Lucius scowled at his son. Draco sighed and said goodbye before following his father. 

After everyone got their money, the rest of the group promised to meet in Flourish and Blotts in an hour, and split up. Since Fred and George were meeting with Lee Jordan, and everyone else had left to get school supplies (or taking the adult Grangers out for a drink); Harry, Sirius, Ron and Hermione were left on their own. 

Harry got them all large ice creams to eat while they window shopped. Ron stopped at the window of Quality Quidditch Supplies until Hermione dragged them next door to buy ink and parchment. They found Fred, George, and Lee not long after in a joke shop. The three older boys paid for their new prank supplies and joined the group. When the time came for them to meet the other Sirius found himself as nervous as Harry. The book shop was packed. A large banner was stretched across the upper window, announcing the appearance of Gilderoy Lockhart from 12:30 to 4:30. This would not be pleasant. 

"Do you want to wait outside, Harry?" Hermione asked, "I can grab your books for you." 

"And we can wait with you." Fred added. 

Lee and George nodded, "It's not like we need signed copies of the books, right?" 

Harry smiled at them, "Thanks. But I think I'll be okay." 

"You sure?" Ron frowned. Harry nodded. "Alright. Let us know if it gets to be too much though, okay? We'll get you and Shadow out." 

He promised and they squeezed inside. 

"Oh, there you are, good." Molly said. She sounded breathless and kept patting at her hair. Sirius rolled his eyes. "We'll be able to see him in a minute." 

Lockhart stepped out. He was surrounded by pictures of himself, in blue robes that matched his eyes. His pointy hat was set at a jaunty angle. Sirius caught Harry's eye and pretended to gag. Harry snorted quietly. 

"Out of the way, there," A man with a large camera snarled at Ron, as he stepped back for a better shot, "This is for the Daily Prophet." 

Harry pulled Sirius closer. The Animagus growled quietly at the man. 

Naturally, that was when Lockhart looked up. He spotted Harry in seconds, jumped up, and shouted, "It can't be Harry Potter?" 

Harry flinched as excited whispers filled the room and the crowd parted. Lockhart jump forward, seized Harry's arm, and dragged him to the front. Sirius barely managed to keep up. Harry was bright red as Lockhart shook his hand for the camera. Sirius could hear his breathing speed up. He pressed against his godson's side in an effort to ground him. 

"Nice big smile, Harry." Lockhart said, "Together, you and I are worth the front page." 

Harry's breathing sped up again. Sirius nosed his hand as Lockhart finally let go. Harry looked around, desperate for a way out. Lockhart wrapped his arm around Harry's shoulders, effectively trapping him. Sirius whined softly. 

"Ladies and gentlemen, what an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time!" 

Harry swayed on his feet, just a little. Sirius noticed, of course, and he was sure Lockhart had too, but he still wouldn't let Harry go. Sirius yipped once, soft enough for the two of them to hear, but not the crowd. 

Lockhart ignored Sirius and continued his speech, "When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography- which I shall be happy to present him now, free of charge- he had no idea," Lockhart gave Harry a little shake, Harry whimpered softly, and Sirius barked again. This time loud enough that the people closest were giving him weird looks, "that he would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, Magical Me. He and his schoolmates will, in fact, be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry!" 

/Oh great./ Sirius thought. /We're stuck with him./ 

The entire works of Gilderoy Lockhart were shoved into Harry's hands before he was pulled away by a familiar blond. 

Harry shot Draco a grateful look and handed the books to Ginny. "You can have these. I-I have to-" Harry bolted for the door, Sirius running alongside him. 

Harry sank to the ground, back pressed against the wall. Sirius sat in front of him and dropped his head on his godson's shoulder. He took a deep breath to remind Harry to do the same.

Draco, Hermione, and Ron came out of the store a minute later, they all looked pretty concerned. 

"Are you alright?" Hermione sank down next to him and started rubbing his back. 

Harry hid his face in Sirius's fur, "I'm sorry." 

Ron and Draco exchanged a look as they sat down, Draco by Harry and Ron on Hermione's other side. "What are you sorry for?" Draco frowned. 

"Making a scene, breaking down like an idiot, taking attention I shouldn't have for something I don't remember." 

Ron snorted, "Lockhart was the one making a scene. He's the one who should apologize, not you." 

Harry held Sirius a little tighter. Sirius nosed at his hair, he was careful to keep his breathing steady so Harry could have something to match his own breathing to. 

About five minutes later, the rest of their group came out, Lucius and Arthur kept glaring at each other. Sirius almost turned to bet James and Remus on whether a fight would break out. 

/I've got to stop doing that./ Sirius sighed. /It's been years, Sirius, get a hold of yourself and stop looking for people long gone./ Thankfully, everyone was too concerned with Harry to notice Sirius zoning out. 

Draco was the first one up. He brushed the dirt off of himself as his father watched in clear disapproval. The other three were slower, Ron and Hermione keeping a close eye on Harry. 

"Sorry." Harry said again. 

"No need for that now." Arthur told him, "Far too crowded in there. Nearly had a breakdown myself." 

"And here I thought you be used to... close quarters, Weasley." Lucius drawled. 

Arthur glared at him and probably would have lunged at him if it weren't for Draco. 

"Father, isn't Mother waiting for us? We should really be leaving don't you think?" 

"I suppose we should." He smirked and nodded at the group. Draco shot a sheepish smile at them and the two Malfoys left. 

"It is getting a bit late. We should be getting home, shouldn't we, Arthur?" Molly said pointedly. 

"Right, right. Have we got everyone? Yes? Let's go." 

On the way to the Leaky Cauldron, Harry ended up surrounded by his friends. Fred, George, Hermione, and Ron had formed a semicircle around him with Hermione and Ron at his sides and Fred and George close behind him. Inside, they said their goodbyes to the Grangers and decided on the order to Floo back to the Burrow. Sirius snorted quietly at the look on Harry's face. He clearly disliked Floo travel, not that Sirius could blame him, Lily had hated it too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longer chapter to apologize for a longer wait.


	30. A Necessary Reveal

Summer's end came faster than Sirius expected and it was obvious to him that Harry was disappointed by it. Harry loved the Burrow, and who could blame him? Especially in comparison to where he normally spent summers. On their last evening, Molly conjured up a dinner with all Harry's favorites. The twins rounded off the night with a half hour long Filibuster fireworks display. Then it was time for one last mug of hot chocolate and bed.

The next morning was crazy. Everyone was rushing about, grabbing things they'd forgotten to pack but had to have, colliding on the stairs, and tripping over chickens. It was nothing like Sirius's house growing up, or James's when he was older. At Grimmauld Place, if it was time to go and you hadn't packed everything beforehand you'd have to leave it behind or be left behind. At James's, they'd double check the house elves' packing job before they went to bed and leave after one last family breakfast.

"Mum! Have you seen Scabbers? I can't find him!" Ron yelled, looking under the twins' beds.

"If you can't find him, you'll have to leave him again, we're late!" Molly's voice called back.

"Where's my diary?" Ginny screamed.

"Have you checked your closet?" Arthur answered.

"Found it!"

Harry was fidgeting with Sirius's vest by the door. It was a habit of his, when he couldn't leave at the planned time he checked to be sure Sirius's vest was on right. He'd readjust it as many times as he could get away with in the extra time to be sure it wasn't too tight.

"We didn't forget anything did we?" Harry asked him. Sirius shook his head. They had checked that everything was packed twice before bed and once more this morning. Just to be safe.

"Got everything, Harry?" Arthur asked. Harry nodded. "Let's start loading the car then."

Naturally, once they were on the road people remembered things they'd forgotten. They returned to the house twice before they reached the highway. It was a quarter to eleven by the time they reached King's Cross. Percy ran through first, then the twins, Arthur, then Ginny and Molly. Sirius noticed the clock and shoved Harry through ahead of him, right behind Molly, and just in time for Sirius and Ron to smack into the brick wall. Harry had dropped his leash while trying to keep his balance at the sudden push. Ron's trunk fell off his trolley as the boy fell.

"Ow." Ron groaned. He looked around, panicked, when he spotted Sirius without Harry. "Harry?"

Sirius pawed at the wall, whining.

"He made it through?"

Sirius nodded. Ron sighed. He looked up at the clock and pressed his ear to the barrier for a minute before pulling away and shaking his head.

"The car! C'mon, Shadow." Ron scooped up Sirius's leash and tugged him outside. "If Fred can fly it I'm sure I can figure it out."

Sirius sighed. This was a bad plan.

It didn't take long for Ron to get the car in the air, once it was he hit a silver button on the dash and the car vanished. Sirius dropped his head onto the seat. If things got out of hand, he'd step in. Naturally, as soon as he thought that, things started to go wrong. The car reappeared with a popping noise. Sirius pawed at the button until they became invisible again. It didn't last.

"Right." Ron groaned. He glanced at Sirius, "Er, hold on?" They shot into the clouds.

Sirius sighed they'd never make it like this, and Ron was probably going to hurt himself trying. He unlatched his vest and shifted.

"Alright." Sirius cracked his knuckles and slowly but firmly swapped seats with Ron, "Let's see if we can move this along, eh?"

"You-you're-" Ron stammered.

"Sirius Black." He winked, "Nice to meet you. Well, in person anyway."

Ron screamed, "You're gonna kill me!"

"Woah, kid. Relax. I never killed anyone. If I was a murderer like everyone said, do you really think I'd've spent the past year playing service dog for Harry?"

"B-but, you broke out of Azkaban. You killed-"

Sirius sighed, "I was framed, Ron. You know what, that's a different story."

"Does Harry know?"

"Yeah. Not from the start, but he found out at the end of last year. Which reminds me," He turned to look Ron in the eyes, "you're not going to tell anyone about me, are you?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Ron straightened his shoulders and gripped his wand tightly, "How do I know you aren't going to hurt one of my friends? You're the only one who says you're innocent."

Sirius laughed, "I like you, kid. Don't lose that loyalty, okay?"

Ron looked surprised.

"If I wanted to hurt Harry, or any of your other friends, don't you think I'd have done it by now? It's not like I never got an opportunity. Besides, Harry needs me."

"He could get an actual dog. Like everyone thought you were."

Sirius shook his head. "Even if the Dursleys let him, a normal dog takes at least a year of training, usually two. I got past that, 'cause I'm not a real dog. I've got certain advantages."

Ron frowned, then pointed his wand at him. "Promise you won't hurt anyone."

"Promise. Unless it's self defense or something."

Ron scowled.

"Hey, you've got to let me have some lee way."

The boy sighed, "Yeah. I won't tell. Promise."

"Good." Sirius grinned, "I'd hate to Obliviate you."

They were quiet for a while.

"How d'you know where you're going?" Ron asked.

"The first bit's pretty much just straight north. Memories a bit fuzzy closer, but I can check the train later."

"Oh."

"Why don't you get some rest? It's a long trip."

"I'm not tired. Can I ask you about stuff?"

He shrugged, "I don't see why not."

\---------------------------line break-------------------------------

Sirius regretted this. He hadn't thought Ron would ask about Azkaban so much. Or the war. It brought up bad memories. Thankfully, they had almost reached the school.

"Ron."

"Yeah?"

He locked eyes with the boy. "When we land, I'll have to change back into Shadow. If anyone asks /you/ drove here. Got it?"

Ron nodded, "Got it."

"Good."

As they descended, the car started making odd sounds. It wobbled and started issuing jets of steam. Sirius turned towards the forest and slowed down.

"What're you going slower for? The car's about to die!"

"Exactly. If I push it faster, it'll give out completely." 

Sirius focused on the forest below them. If he could just find a clearing to pull into... There! He turned the wheel and kept the speed as steady as he could. They landed in the clearing with a jolt.

"Out, quickly." Sirius said, grabbing his vest.

Ron hurried out of the car. Its trunk flew open on its own and threw Ron's trunk out onto the grass. Then, it turned and sped off into the forest.

"Wait, come back! Dad'll kill me!" Ron yelled after it.

"You know, something tells me that won't help." Sirius clapped him on the shoulder, "Let's get going. Someone's bound to want to talk to you when we get inside. Wand out, now. Don't want you getting lost."

"Right." Ron pulled his wand out, "Um, d'you know the light spell? I can never remember."

"Lumos. Keep me in sight, alright?"

"Yeah." Ron cast the spell and Sirius shifted back. Ron struggled to fit the vest on him before they started moving.

They had almost reached the end of the forest when Ron tripped. Fortunately, he wasn't hurt. Unfortunately, he landed on his wand. Which snapped nearly in half. He looked at Sirius, desperate.

"I don't suppose you can fix this?"

He shook his head. Ron sighed and grabbed the back of his vest. "Don't let me fall again, okay?"

It took another fifteen minutes to reach the castle. Through the windows, they could see the Sorting was finishing up. Only a handful of first years waited for their name to be called. Sirius stiffened as a familiar scent hit him.

"I do so hope you have a good explanation, Mr. Weasley." Snape sneered.

Ron jumped and whipped around, "Professor! I was just- er-"

"Inside. Might as well bring the mutt with you."

Ron swallowed and did as he was told, keeping a firm grip on Sirius.

Once they had reached Snape's office, Ron was shoved into a chair. Sirius sat beside him, but looked back at the door regularly. 

"What have you done with the car?" Snape demanded.

Ron gulped. Snape unrolled a copy of the Evening Prophet and showed the boy the headline, "FLYING FORD ANGELICA MYSTIFIES MUGGLES." 

"You were seen," he hissed, "Six or seven Muggles in all, if the article is to be believed. Doesn't your father work in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office?"

Sirius really wanted to punch old Snivillus. The man was smirking!

"Dear, dear... his own son..."

Then again, biting could cause more damage.

"I-"

"Silence! Most unfortunately, you are not in my House and the decision to expel you does not rest with me. I shall go fetch the people who do have that power. You will wait here."

Ron looked down at Sirius once Snape had left, "Don't suppose you could lend a hand here?"

Sirius stared at him. How the bloody hell was he supposed to help? He hadn't run off to find Harry yet, wasn't that enough?

"Right," Ron sighed, "Thought so."

Snape returned ten minutes later with McGonagall. She frowned when she noticed Sirius, but focused on Ron and snapped out, "Explain."

Ron launched into the story. Sirius was relieved when the boy left him out, just saying that Harry had dropped his leash when he'd fallen through and Ron had brought him along so Harry wouldn't have to worry.

"-so, I had no choice, Professor, I couldn't get on the train." He finished.

McGonagall's frown was still present. Sirius shifted. He had graduated and was a /dog/ and still felt like he and James were about to be scolded for some prank.

There was a knock on the office door. Snape looked absurdly happy as he pulled it open, Dumbledore stood on the other side. The old man looked unusually grave. Sirius resisted the urge to start whining when he looked down his nose at them. There was a long silence before Dumbledore spoke, "Please explain why you did this."

Ron shifted uncomfortably and retold the story. Dumbledore didn't ask any questions, just listened and peered at him through his spectacles. 

After another uncomfortable silence Ron said hopelessly, "I'll go and get my things."

"What are you talking about, Weasley?" barked McGonagall.

"Well, you're expelling me, aren't you?"

"Not today, Mr. Weasley." Dumbledore said. "But I must impress upon you the seriousness of what you have done. I will be writing to your family tonight. I must also warn you that if you do anything like this again, I will have no choice but to expel you."

Ron nodded so much, Sirius thought his head might fall off. "Understood, sir."

"Professor Dumbledore," Snape cut in, "Mr. Weasley has flouted the Degree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry- surely-"

"It will be for Professor McGonagall to decide on his punishment, Severus. He is in her House and is therefore her responsibility." He turned to McGonagall, "I must return to the feast, Minerva, I've got to give out a few notices. I believe I'll be taking the dog with me. I'm sure Mr. Potter is quite distressed without him."

Dumbledore took his leash from Ron. "Come, Severus, there's a delicious-looking custard tart I want to sample."

Sirius followed Dumbledore out with Snape bringing up the rear. The Potions professor looked incredibly disappointed, Sirius couldn't keep his tail from wagging.

Dumbledore pushed the door of the Great Hall open, dropped the leash, and pointed to the Gryffindor table. Harry was sitting near the middle. The twins were on either side of him with Hermione right across. He looked upset. Sirius ran into the room, barking like mad. Harry's head snapped up, a grin appearing on his lips when he spotted Sirius.

"Shadow!" Sirius jumped on him, licking the boy's face. Harry laughed and hugged him, "I thought I'd lost you."

Sirius didn't bother listening to Dumbledore's notices. Harry was okay, Ron hadn't crashed, or been expelled, and he was finally being fed. 

They met Ron by the dormitory. Harry had been too drained to try dealing with the crowd so, their group, sans Draco, had hung back til it had mostly gone. Harry had tried to tell them to go ahead, that he was fine, but they'd insisted. As a result, they found Ron standing in front of the portrait-hole looking lost.

Hermione tried to lecture him when the rumors of him arriving by flying car were confirmed. The twins made a big deal of telling him how proud they were and that they'd have to start teaching him their secrets to not getting caught. Harry just thanked him for bringing Shadow with him and that he was glad he was okay and not expelled.

Once inside the common room, Sirius went straight up to bed. It had been far too long a day.


	31. "Professor" Lockhart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so late. Motivation's a bitch.

Everything was fine until the mail showed up. Ron's family owl crashed into the table with a small red envelope tied to its leg. A red envelope that was all too familiar to Sirius. He'd gotten several his first few weeks at Hogwarts before his parents stopped sending them and found new ways to show their disapproval.

Ron and Neville stared at it as though it might explode at any moment.

"What's the matter?" Harry asked.

"She- she's sent me a Howler." Ron answered faintly.

"You'd better open it." Neville whispered, "It'll be worse if you don't. My gran sent me one once, and I ignored it and-" he gulped- "it was horrible."

"What's a Howler?" Harry frowned.

Fred and George grinned, "You'll want to cover your ears." Sirius demonstrated by dropping his head to the ground and covering his ears with his paws. Still frowning, Harry covered his ears.

Ron's hand shook as he reached out and opened the letter. Sirius pressed his paws down harder.

"-STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU! YOU WAIT TIL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE-"

Molly's yelling made dust fall from the ceiling and plates and spoons rattle on the table. People throughout the hall were turning to see who had received the Howler. Ron sank lower in his chair and glanced at Sirius, as though hoping he would step in or something. Sirius pressed himself against Harry's leg.

"-LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS-"

If Sirius had a Knut for every time he'd heard that, he'd have more than his family fortune.

"-YOU COULD HAVE DIED! I AM ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED- YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT! IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME."

A ringing silence fell. Ron had dropped the Howler and it burst into flames. After a moment or two, a couple students laughed and the usual chatter of the hall returned. Hermione closed to book she'd been reading and looked down at the top of Ron's head.

"Well, I don;t know what you expected, Ron, but-"

"Don't tell me I deserved it." He snapped.

Sirius nudged his hand with a whine. Ron sighed and scratched his ears.

The next few minutes were pretty normal. McGonagall handed out course schedules and the hall started to empty out as students headed to their classes. Draco jogged over as they got up. 

"Please, Draco, don't start. Wasn't the Howler enough?" Ron groaned. 

Draco smirked, "I was going to ask what class you have first. But if you'd rather-" 

"Herbology!" Ron shouted, "We have Herbology first." 

Hermione let Draco take a look at her schedule. "Damn. We haven't got any classes together this morning." He sighed, "Oh well, I'll see you at lunch?" 

Harry grinned and nodded, "Definitely." 

"Good." He waved and ran off. 

\------------------line break--------------- 

The Herbology class was repotting Mandrakes today and, as earmuffs aren't very effective on dogs, Sirius had to lay outside and wait for class to end. Harry came out of class covered in dirt and clearly tired. Sirius trotted over to him and nosed his hand. Harry smiled and pet him. 

"I need a shower before Transfiguration." 

"I think everyone else has the same idea." Hermione said, "We'll need to hurry." 

After a quick wash they hurried off to Transfiguration, where they were supposed to be turning beetles into buttons. Harry couldn't quite manage it, Sirius wished he could give him some pointers. Transfiguration had been his and James's best class in school. 

Ron's wand was a cause of great concern. He'd patched it with some borrowed Spellotape, but it kept sparking and emitting smoke at random times. He really just needed to get a new one. 

By the end of class, Ron was incredibly frustrated. He kept smacking his wand on the desk, "Stupid- useless- thing-" 

Sirius put a paw on his wrist. Ron glared at him. 

Harry frowned, "I think you should write home for a new one." 

"Oh, yeah, and get another Howler back." Ron snapped, shoving his now hissing wand into his bag, "I'm sure that will go well." 

Harry flinched. Sirius growled softly at Ron. 

"Hush up, /Sirius/." The Animagus snapped his jaws. Now was not the time for this! 

"You know?" Harry's grip on his leash tightened as they started walking to lunch. 

Ron sighed, "He's the one who drove here." 

"Are you mad I didn't tell you? Cause I wanted to! But then I thought you might react badly, and I can't lose him, and I just-" 

"I'm not mad. I was shocked at first. But I get it, I guess?" He ran a hand through his hair, "Sorry I snapped at you. It's just... frustrating. I can barely do anything now!" 

Harry grinned at him. "Well, if you can figure it out with a broke wand, imagine how easy it will be when you get a new one." 

Ron smiled a little. His mood dropped again when they met up with the rest of their friends and Hermione showed off her row of buttons from Transfiguration. 

"You have Defense this afternoon, right?" George said. 

"Yeah," Harry answered. "I'm not looking forward to it. Lockhart makes me uncomfortable." 

"Can't blame you there, mate." Fred laughed, "He's really... something." 

Hermione rolled her eyes, "He's bound to be a good wizard. Just look at everything he's done! Besides, if he wasn't qualified, he wouldn't have been hired, right?" 

They finished their lunch and met Draco in the courtyard. Hermione sat on one of the stone steps and immediately started reading again. Draco, Harry, and Ron started talking about Quidditch. Apparently, Draco was trying out for his house team. A few minutes into their talk Harry started nervously looking around. 

"Does anyone else feel like their being watched?" 

Sirius looked around and spied a mousy-haired first year staring at Harry as though transfixed. He was clutching an ordinary looking Muggle camera. Harry saw him too and pulled Sirius closer, shifting uncomfortably. The boy turned bright red and shuffled forward a bit. 

"All right, Harry? I'm- I'm Colin Creevey." He took another tentative step forward. "I'm in Gryffindor too. D'you think- would it be all right if- can I have a picture?" He lifted the camera slightly. 

Harry shrank back a little and looked at his friends desperately. 

"What do you want a picture for?" Ron asked. 

"So I can prove I met him!" He said eagerly. He turned back to Harry, "I know all about you. Everyone's told me about how you survived when You-Know-Who tried to kill you and how he disappeared and everything and how you've still got a lightening scar on your forehead and a boy in my dormitory said if I develop the film in the right potion, the pictures'll move!" The boy /finally/ took a breath, "It's amazing here, isn't it? I never knew all the odd stuff I could do was magic till I got the letter from Hogwarts. My dad's a milkman, he couldn't believe it either. So I'm taking loads of pictures to send home to him! And it'd be really good if I had one of you. Maybe one of your friends could take it and I could stand next to you? And then you could sign it?" 

Harry was staring at the boy in mild horror by now, clutching a handful of Sirius's fur like a lifeline. 

"Signed photos? You're giving out signed photos, Potter?" Zabini had come over, flanked by two large and thuggish looking cronies. He stopped right behind Colin and yelled to the rest of the courtyard, "Line up, everyone! Harry Potter's giving out signed photos!" 

Harry pulled Sirius half into his lap. Draco sneered back, "Shove off, Zabini." 

Colin piped up, "Yeah. You're just jealous." 

"Jealous?" Half the courtyard was listening by now, "Of what? I don['t want a foul scar on my head, thanks. I don't think getting your head cut open makes you that special, myself." 

"Too bad no one asked what you think." Fred shrugged. 

Naturally, that was when Gilderoy Lockhart came striding into view, "What's all this? Who's giving out signed photos?" 

Sirius put his chin on Harry's shoulder and rolled his eyes. 

"Shouldn't have asked. We meet again, Harry!" Lockhart slung an arm around Harry's shoulders. Harry flinched. Lockhart didn't notice and forced Harry to his feet. "Come on then, Mr. Creevey. A double portrait, can't do better than that, and we'll both sign it for you." 

Colin fumbled for his camera, snapping the picture as the bell rang behind them. Sirius wondered if he could get away with tearing up Lockhart's stupid turquoise robes. 

"Off you go, move along there." Lockhart called to the crowd. Harry sent a pleading look back at his friends as Lockhart dragged him away. Sirius pressed against Harry's leg and snapped his jaws at Lockhart. Harry smiled and shook his head a little. 

"A word to the wise, Harry, I covered up for you back there with young Creevey-" Sirius rolled his eyes, "if he was photographing me too your schoolmates won't think you're setting yourself up so much..." 

Harry shrank down and made a small squeaking noise. Sirius snarled quietly. 

Lockhart continued with his "advice," "Let me just say that handing out signed pictures at this stage of your career isn't sensible- looks a tad bigheaded, to be frank. There will be a time when, like me, you'll need to have a stack handy wherever you go," Harry looked sick, "but I don't think you're quite there yet." 

They had reached Lockhart's classroom and he finally let Harry go. Instead of going in, Harry walked a little ways down the hall and sank to the floor. Sirius pressed against him and dropped his chin onto Harry's shoulder again. The boy wrapped his arms around him and sat, shaking, for a minute before Ron and Hermione found him. 

"Are you alright?" Hermione asked. 

"Why does he keep touching me?" Harry whimpered, "I don't know him! I don't like it." 

Ron put a hand on his shoulder, "We should get inside. We'll grab a seat in the back. So there's less space behind you." 

Harry nodded. When he was spiraling like this he felt the need to have /something/ at his back. A wall, a friend, a thick jacket. Anything. 

Once the whole class had taken their seats, Lockhart cleared his throat loudly and silence fell. Harry pull his robes tighter around him and Sirius laid down on his feet, closing his eyes as Lockhart started talking. The "professor" introduced himself with far too many titles and a bad joke that no one laughed at. Then he handed out a quiz. 

"Of course the questions are all about him." Harry muttered. Sirius sighed and let himself doze off while thinking how much better Remus would be at this job. He was woken after the quiz was over by someone snorting in laughter and Harry's toes digging into his side. 

"Well, they're not- they're not very dangerous, are they?" Someone choked out. Sirius perked up. 

"Don't be so sure! Devilish tricky little blighters they can be!" Looking up, Sirius caught sight of a cage filled with electric blue pixies, jabbering and rattling the bars. 

"Right then," Lockhart said loudly, "Let's see what you make of them." And he opened the cage. 

/Moony, why couldn't you be teaching this class?/ 

Pixies flew everywhere. They sprayed the class with ink and broken glass, shredded books and papers, tore pictures from the wall, and hung poor Neville from the iron chandelier. Sirius yanked Harry under the desk with him. 

"Come on now- round them up, round them up, they're only pixies!" Lockhart shouted. 

/Maybe if you'd taught them how before opening the cage, moron./ Sirius turned and snapped at a pixie that had started pulling his tail. It made a face at him and flew off. 

Lockhart yelled a nonsense spell. When nothing happened, he dove under his desk. The chandelier gave way and Neville fell. Sirius winced, /Poor boy./ 

The bell rang, and the class scrambled out. Lockhart stopped Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "Well, I'll ask you three to nip the rest of them back into their cage." He slipped past and shut the door behind him. 

Ron glanced down at Sirius, who shook his head. They were only pixies. Irritating, but not usually life threatening. Hermione froze two at once and pushed them back into their cage. 

"Can you believe him?" Ron gestured towards the door, then scrambled to get one of the pixies out of his hair. 

Hermione froze a couple more pixies, "He just wants to give us a hands-on learning experience." Sirius caught a pixie in his mouth and presented it to her. She took it, scratched his head, and shoved it into the cage. 

"It doesn't seem like he knows what he's doing." Harry attempted to replicate Hermione's spell. One of the pixies slowed down a little, Sirius jumped up and caught it. 

"Don't flourish your wand quite so much, Harry. It'll work better." She advised, "Just look at all the amazing things Lockhart's done-" 

"Says he's done." Ron mumbled.


	32. Slugs

Colin Creevey seemed nice enough, but could not take a hint to save his life. The boy had memorized Harry's schedule and would say hello every time they saw each other, Harry would awkwardly wave back and Colin took this as an invitation to keep doing it. Sirius had started leading Harry through secret passageways to get around as much as possible so they could avoid him. Ron's wand had continued to malfunction throughout the week. He found it incredibly frustrating, but Sirius got some really good prank ideas out of it.

Early Saturday morning, Harry woke from a nightmare. Once Sirius had calmed him down, they decided to go for a walk. Not many people would be out this early and Harry wanted some fresh air to help clear his head. He got dressed and scribbled a quick note for Ron before they left. On the way out they ran into Fred and George, who were dressed in their Quidditch uniforms.

"Hey Harry." George said, "What're you doing up so early?"

"Couldn't sleep." He answered, "Thought I'd take Shadow for a walk before we go to Hagrid's. How about you?"

"Wood's decided that early morning Quidditch practice is a good idea." Fred rolled his eyes, "No one's particularly excited about it."

Harry nodded, "Do you think it'd be alright if I stopped by to watch? After Shadow's walk, I mean."

"Sure," George shrugged, "Might be a bit boring though."

"We'd best be off." Fred sighed, "Wood'll freak if we're late."

"Have fun?"

They both laughed, "Thanks mate. We'll see you later."

Harry snapped Sirius's leash on as they left. He had just reached the portrait hole when Colin Creevey dashed down the stairs, camera swinging around his neck. Harry looked straight ahead and did his best to pretend he hadn't seem him.

"I heard someone on the stairs say your name, Harry! Look what I've got here! I've had it developed and I wanted to show you!"

Harry sighed and Took the photo Colin had shoved under his nose. He forced a polite smile and handed it back.

"Will you sign it?" Colin asked eagerly.

Harry's eyes widened, "I um, I don't th-think that's a g-good idea."

Colin looked disappointed. Harry winced.

"I, um, I've got t-to go. Sh-Shadow gets k-kind of w-worked up if h-he doesn't get his w-walk." Harry flashed another polite smile and practically dove through the portrait hole before Colin could say anything else. "Fastest way outside?"

Sirius trotted to one of the secret passageways. It was only a couple of minutes later that they were outside. Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is it bad that I keep ditching him? He's probably not a bad person he's just so... much."

Sirius nudged him. Harry smiled back. A genuine smile this time.

They'd been walking along the edge of the forest for awhile when Sirius spied a blond haired girl walking barefoot in their direction. Harry caught sight of her a minute later. He ducked his head down to avoid eye contact. The girl wore Ravenclaw colors and an odd looking necklace, Sirius guessed she was a first year.

"Hello." She smiled as she skipped by. Harry returned the smile and gave a small wave. "Goodbye." She called over her shoulder.

Harry relaxed again after she was gone. "We should probably head to Hagrid's soon."

Sirius nodded at him.

"I wonder why she was barefoot." Harry said on the way. "Maybe she likes feeling the grass? I guess it doesn't really matter."

They had almost reached Hagrid's hut when they ran into Ron and Hermione. Ron was pale and stopped before they actually reached Harry to throw up slugs.

"Nearly there, Ron." Hermione was saying, "You'll be alright in a minute."

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Backfired hex." Hermione sighed.

The door of Hagrid's hut swung open and Lockhart stepped out. Harry squeaked and dove into the bushes, dragging Ron and Sirius with him. Hermione followed reluctantly.

"It's a simple matter if you know what you're doing." Lockhart was saying. Sirius huffed, this again. "If you need help, you know where I am! I'll let you have a copy of my book. I'm surprised you haven't got one already. I'll sign one tonight and send it over. Well, goodbye!"

They waited until Lockhart was out of sight before going up to Hagrid's door. The half giant looked incredibly grumpy when he opened the door. Harry shrank down a little.

"Is this a b-bad time?"

He brightened, "Not at all! Come in, come in. I thought you mighta bin Professor Lockhart back again." Hagrid ushered them all inside.

Hermione was quick to explain what had happened to Ron. She and Ron had gone down to the Quidditch pitch where the Slytherin and Gryffindor teams had been facing off. One of the Slytherins had insulted Hermione so Ron had tried to hex him. The hex had backfired and hit him instead.

"I don't think there's anything to do except to wait for it to stop." Hermione said anxiously, "It's a difficult curse to work at the best of times, but with a broken wand..." She trailed off. Hagrid nodded and set a copper basin in front of Ron.

Fang had come over to sniff at Sirius. Harry scratched his ears absently, "What did Lockhart want with you, Hagrid?"

"Givin' me advice on gettin' kelpies out of a well. Like I don' know." Hagrid growled. He set a teapot on the table, "An' bangin' on about some banshee he banished. If one word of it was true, I'll eat my kettle."

Sirius snorted.

Hermione's voice was pitched a little higher than normal, "I think you're being a bit unfair. Professor Dumbledore obviously thought he was the best man for the job-"

Hagrid cut her off, "He was the only man fer the job. An' I mean the only one. Gettin' very difficult ter find anyone fer the Dark Arts job. People aren't too keen ter take it on, see. They're startin' ter think it's jinxed. No one's lasted long fer a while now." Hagrid jerked his head at Ron, "So, who was he tryin' ter curse?"

"I'm not sure what his name was." Hermione shrugged, "He called something. It must have been bad, since everyone went wild."

"It was bad." Ron said hoarsely. "He called her a 'Mudblood', Hagrid." He dove back out of sight as a fresh wave of slugs came up.

Sirius growled as Hagrid snapped, "He didn'!"

"He did." She frowned, "But I don't know what it means. I could tell it was really rude, of course-"

Ron came back up, "It's about the most insulting thing he could think of. It's a really foul name for someone Muggle-born. Some wizards think they're better than others 'cause they're 'pureblood'." He coughed, "Like that makes a difference. Look at Neville Longbottom- he's pureblood and can hardly stand a cauldron the right way up."

"An' they haven't invented a spell our Hermione can' do." Hagrid chimed in proudly. She blushed.

"It's a disgusting thing to call someone." Ron sat up again, wiping his sweaty brow with a shaking hand, "Dirty blood, see. Common blood. It's ridiculous. Most wizards are half blood these days anyway. If we hadn't married Muggles we;d have died out by now." He retched an dove back out of sight.

"Well, I can' blame yeh fer tryin' ter curse him, Ron." Hagrid said loudly. He pat him on the back.

/Would've been nice if it hadn't backfired though./ Sirius sighed. He hoped the twins had gotten whoever-it-was back. He was pretty sure they had, or would soon.

"Harry." Hagrid said suddenly, "Gotta bone ter pick with yeh. I've heard yeh've bin givin' out signed photos. How come I haven' got one?"

Harry sank down in his chair, clearly upset.

"I'm only jokin' with yeh." Hagrid put a hand on his shoulder, "I knew yeh hadn't really. I'm sorry."

He flushed, "'S okay."

"Come an' see what I've bin growin'. Migh' cheer yeh up."

In the small vegetable patch behind Hagrid's house were a dozen of the large pumpkins. Each was the size of a small boulder. Sirius blinked, /That's right, it's nearly October. I wonder how big he'll get them before Halloween./

"Gettin' on well, aren't they?" Hagrid seemed pleased with himself. "Fer the Halloween feast... should be big enough by then."

"What've you been feeding them?" Harry asked, he sounded a little awed.

Hagrid looked around, "Well, I've bin givin' them- you know- a bit o' help."

Sirius took note of Hagrid's pink umbrella leaning against the side of the hut.

"An Engorgement Charm?" Hermione sounded halfway between disapproval and amusement, "You've done a good job on them."

"That's what yer little sister said," He nodded at Ron, "Met her jus' yesterday. Said she was jus lookin' round the grounds, but I reckon she was hopin' ter run inter someone else at my house." He winked at Harry.

Harry blushed, "Shut up."

Ron snorted in laughter and the ground was sprayed with slugs.

"Watch it!" Hagrid pulled Ron away from his precious pumpkins.

It was nearly lunchtime when they left Hagrid's. Ron was still hiccoughing occasionally, but only brought up two very small slugs. They had just set foot in the entrance hall when McGonagall's voice rang out.

"Weasley." She stopped in front of him, "You will be serving your detention tonight."

Ron sighed, "What will I be doing?"

"You will be polishing the silver in the trophy room with Mr. Filch. And no magic, Weasley. Elbow grease."

Ron was considerably more gloomy as the trio entered the Great Hall. Hermione looked just a little smug about it. Draco came rushing over a minute after they sat down. Harry brightened.

"Hermione, I'd like to apologize on behalf of my Housemates. Some people still think we're in the Dark Ages or something."

She smiled at him, "Thanks Draco. Honestly, I didn't even know what it meant. It kind of makes an insult less effective if the person you're insulting doesn't understand. Don't you think?"

Draco looked relieved at that. "I'm just glad you're not angry." He turned to Ron, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." Ron sighed, "No more slugs. I think. Detention tonight, though. That sucks."

"I'd've checked on you sooner, but Flint said if I left with a bunch of Gryffindors I'd lose my place on the team."

"You made the team?" Harry asked.

The other boy grinned, "Yeah. You're looking at the new Slytherin seeker."

"Congratulations."

"Thanks."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A wild Luna has been spotted!
> 
> Sorry this chapter's kinda short. I'll have a new one up by Halloween (probably). Also, we're about to get more Luna!


	33. Happy Halloween

Harry's morning walks with Sirius became a regular occurrence in the following weeks. The went around the same time every morning, and every time, they came across the same blonde girl. Most mornings she was coming back towards the castle, though every once in a while she would be leaving as they came back. After a week and a half of seeing her, Harry started getting nervous when they didn't cross paths (which only happened once). Two weeks after they'd first seen her, they found her in the entrance hall about to leave.

"Oh, hello." She smiled, as she always did. "Are you going out again too?"

Harry smiled a little and nodded. 

"Would you like to walk together today? It seems a bit silly not to, since we're both leaving at the same time. Of course if you'd prefer to be alone, that's fine too."

"T-together's f-fine. If y-you don't m-mind I m-mean." Harry answered.

She smiled again and they left. They walked along the same route as always, neither speaking. 

Once they'd returned to the castle she smiled again and said, "That's for walking with me. It was nice to have company today."

He smiled back and nodded again. She turned and skipped off down the hall.

"Do you think she meant it? Or was she just being nice?" Harry asked. Sirius pressed against his side, tapped his paw on the ground once and nodded.

"Yes to the first question?" Harry translated.

Sirius nodded again.

"I hope your right."

The next day the girl was waiting for them in the entrance hall.

"Oh good." Her voice had dreamy quality to it. Sirius had first thought it might be because she was still sleepy, now he thought it was just how she talked, "I thought you might have left already. Yesterday was nice, so I hoped you might like to do it again?"

"Y-yeah. Th-that'd be n-nice. I m-mean I'd l-like th-that."

Like yesterday, neither spoke until the got back. When they said goodbye and parted ways.

Harry and Sirius got to the entrance first the next morning.

"What if she's already left?" Harry was chewing his lower lip, "Or she doesn't want company today? Or what if-"

Sirius snapped twice.

"Right, right. I'm overthinking. But still..."

The girl came skipping into the entrance hall a minute later. "Am I late today?"

Harry shook his head, she smiled and they left without another word.

The next week was spent like that. They'd wait for each other by the door, go for a walk in silence, then say goodbye just before parting ways. The tradition was broken when Harry blurted out, "I don't even know your name." The he slapped his free hand over his mouth with wide eyes.

The girl smiled, "Luna Lovegood. What's yours?"

Harry looked genuinely surprised, "You d-don't kn-know?"

Luna tilted her head to the side.

"I m-mean! N-not th-that you sh-should! It's j-just th-that people h-here usually d-do and-"

"I do know." Luna cut in, "I just thought it might get annoying, people knowing who you are before you know who they are. So I thought I'd let you introduce yourself."

"O-oh." He scratched the back of his neck, blushing. "Th-that's nice of you. A-and you're r-right."

"Would you like to try again?"

He frowned, "R-really?"

She nodded, "Here I'll start." She stopped walking and turned to him, "Hello, I'm Luna Lovegood, what's your name?"

"H-Harry Potter. N-nice to m-meet you." He smiled.

Luna returned it, "Say, that's a lovely dog, Harry. What's his name?"

"Sh-Shadow."

They started walking again, "The second time did go smoother, don't you think?" Luna sighed.

"D-definitely. Thanks, Luna."

"Of course, Harry."

The Saturday before Halloween was miserable. Raindrops the size of bullets pelted the castle. Still, Harry and Sirius went to meet Luna for their morning walk.

"I don't think walking outside is the best idea today." Luna sighed, "Normally, I quite enjoy the rain. But it is coming down rather hard."

Harry nodded, "Plus, e-everyone's been c-catching cold l-lately. Don't think ch-chancing it is th-the best idea."

"We could just walk around inside. I'm sure Shadow still needs the exercise."

"G-good plan."

They wandered around the castle for a while before starting back to their usual meeting spot. On the way, they ran into Nearly Headless Nick. The ghost had been staring out the window grumbling to himself. Luna skipped over and greeted him nonetheless.

"Hello, hello." The ghost sighed when he saw them.

Sirius pressed against Harry's side and sat down.

"You look upset." Luna said.

"A matter of no importance," Nick assured her, "It's not as though I wanted to join... Thought I'd apply, but apparently I 'don't fulfill the requirements.'"

"It s-sounds l-like something of s-some im-importance." Harry pointed out.

"Well, you would think, wouldn't you," He pulled a letter out of his pocket, "that getting hit forty-five times in the neck with a blunt ax would qualify you to join the Headless Hunt?"

"Y-yes."

"I'd say."

"I mean nobody wishes more than I do that it was quick and clean, and my head had come off properly, it would have saved me a great deal of pain and ridicule."

Sirius yawned, he'd heard Nick's rant before. He'd been rejected again and would mope about it for the next few days.

"I w-wish th-there was s-something we c-could do." Harry was saying.

Luna nodded in agreement.

"But there /is/ something you could do." Nick suddenly seemed very excited, which made Sirius nervous. "Harry- would I be asking too much- but no, you wouldn't want-"

"W-what is i-it?" Harry looked pretty nervous too.

"Well, this Halloween will be my five hundredth deathday. I'm holding a party down in one of the roomier dungeons. Friends will be coming from all over the country. It would be such an /honor/ if you would attend. Naturally, you would be invited too, my dear." He added to Luna, "You could bring some of your other friends as well, of course. But I daresay you'd rather go to the school feast."

"I'd like to go." Luna said, "I've never been to a deathday party. It sounds fascinating."

"I-I'll come t-too." Harry agreed.

"Wonderful! I do look forward to seeing you both! And do you think you could /possibly/ mention to Sir Patrick how /very/ frightening and impressive you find me?"

"Of course."

Harry nodded.

Nearly Headless Nick beamed at them.

\------------------line break------------------------

At seven o'clock on Halloween Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Sirius went down to Nearly Headless Nick's deathday party. Fred and George had promised the three that they would sneak some food up from the feast for them. They'd have gone too, but apparently they had a special Halloween prank planned. Sirius sighed as they walked past the Great Hall. This year looked really good.

Luna and Nick met them in the doorway. Harry was quick to introduce Hermione and Ron to her. Sirius blinked at all the decorations. /At least it's spooky enough for the Halloween season. Of course, it is a ghost party so what else would it be?/

"My dear friends." Nick greeted them. "Welcome, welcome... so pleased you could come."

Sirius could actually recognize several of the ghosts at the party. Every now and then they'd gotten some of the Hogwarts ghosts to help out with a prank. Hermione paled when she saw Moaning Myrtle and redirected them to the food table. Sirius pressed closer to Harry. It was really cold.

"Shame." Luna sighed. All the food was rotten or burned beyond hope of saving. "I suppose it is to be expected."

They watched a ghost pass through rotten salmon with his mouth wide open.

"Perhaps they let it rot to give it a stronger flavor?" Hermione suggested.

Sirius whined up at Harry. The smell was getting to be too much for him.

They moved a little way from the table. Peeves stopped them before they could get too far.

"Hello, Peeves." Ron said.

Peeves offered them a bowl of fungus covered peanuts, "Nibbles?"

"N-no th-thanks." Harry answered.

"Heard you talking about poor Myrtle. /Rude/ you was about poor Myrtle." He took a deep breath and bellowed, "OY! MYRTLE!"

"Peeves, don't tell her what I said." Hermione whispered, "I didn't mean it, I don't mind her- er, hello Myrtle."

"What?" Myrtle said sulkily.

"Not enjoying the party?" Luna asked.

Myrtle sniffed.

"Um, it's nice to see you out of the toilet." Hermione tried.

"Miss Granger was talking about you." Peeves chimed in.

Sirius huffed. He tugged Harry away. That damned smell from the food was making him irritable.

"Hey, Shadow. No pulling! Come on, you know better than that." Harry protested. Sirius took a deep breath once they were far enough away from the food. He could still smell it, but it was much more manageable now. 

Myrtle flew out of the room sobbing. Peeves shot after her yelling, "Pimply, pimply!"

Harry's friends joined him a moment later, Hermione looked pretty upset. Nick flew over a second later, "Enjoying yourselves?"

"It's been very interesting." Luna answered.

"Not a bad turnout. It's nearly time for my speech, I'd better go and warn the orchestra."

The sound of a hunting horn cut off the orchestra for him.

"Oh, here we go." Nick said bitterly.

Through a wall in the dungeon burst a dozen ghost horses, each with a headless rider. Everyone burst into applause, except Nick. Harry started to clap, stopped when he noticed Nick, started again when he looked around at everyone else, then stopped completely and grabbed Sirius instead.

The lead horseman came over to them, squishing his head back onto his neck. "Nick! Head still hanging in there?" He guffawed and clapped Nick on the shoulder.

Sirius rolled his eyes. He could practically hear James and Remus booing.

"Welcome, Patrick." Nick said stiffly.

"Live 'uns!" Patrick gasped, spotting the kids. He jumped back in "surprise" so his head fell off and the crowd howled with laughter.

"Very amusing."

"Don't mind Nick!" Patrick's head called from the floor, "Still upset we won't let him join the Hunt! But I mean to say- look at the fellow-"

Nick gave Harry a meaningful look. "I th-think Nick's v-very frightening a-and-"

"Ha! I bet he told you to say that!"

Harry shrank down some. Hermione touched his shoulder gently before rubbing his back.

"If I could have everyone's attention, it's time for my speech!" Nick called out. Once he'd stepped up to the podium Harry and Sirius slipped out of the room. The others followed them.

"I sc-screwed up and n-now N-Nick's p-probably mad a-and-"

"It's alright, mate." Ron got him to sit down against the wall and crouched beside him. Hermione motioned for Luna to do the same, whispering something to her. "Nick's probably put enough people up to that so Patrick would've seen through it no matter what.

Hermione nodded, "He'll be mad at the Hunt, not you."

After a minute or two, they decided to go head back to the common room. Luna offered to go with, but Harry insisted that he was alright and she should go see if the feast was still going on.

Harry froze before they'd made it out of the passageway. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Ron frowned.

"There's a v-voice." He stepped closer to the wall. Sirius listened too. He thought he could hear, something. But he wasn't sure what. It definitely wasn't a voice though.

"This way!" Harry took off. Sirius stumbled a bit before catching up.

"Harry where are we-"

"SHHH!" Harry paused for a second then yelled, "It's going to kill someone!" and took off again.

When he'd finally stopped, Ron panted, "What was that all about? I couldn't hear anything."

Hermione gasped and pointed down the corridor, "Look!"

Luna moved closer, "Is that..."

The others followed her slowly. On the wall was written:

The Chamber Of Secrets Has Been Opened. Enemies Of The Heir, Beware.

"What's that, hanging underneath?" Ron gulped.

Harry almost slipped on a large puddle of water as they walked forward. Sirius yanked him back when he saw what it was.

"Mrs. Norris." Luna breathed. "Poor thing." The cat was hanging by her tail from one of the torches. She was stiff as a board, her eyes were wide and staring

"Let's get out of here." Ron said.

"Sh-shouldn't we t-try and h-help-"

"Trust me." Ron insisted, "We don't want to be found here."

/Too late./ Sirius thought.

The feast had just ended. Students began pouring into the passage from both sides. The noise and chatter of the students died suddenly as the people in front spotted the cat. Harry swallowed and slid a hand into Sirius's fur.

A voice pierced the silence as Filch shouldered his way through the crowd. "What's going on here?"

Harry stepped back towards the crowd as Filch spotted Mrs. Norris.

"My cat! My cat! What's happened to her?" His eyes fell on Harry, "/You!/ You've murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you!"

Harry was shaking his head and trying to edge back to the crowd. Sirius stepped between the enraged caretaker and his godson, snarling.

"Argus!" Dumbledore had arrived on the scene, followed by several other teachers. He quickly detached the cat and turned to Filch, "Come with me, Argus. You too, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, Miss Lovegood."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's hoping I start updating more frequently now. (Laughs hysterically) It's not looking good guys.


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